You Have Found a Home
by Cairistona
Summary: When Auri came to earth, she didn't expect Cons, rules or liaisons, or how different life would be, but neither did she expect the friends she would find, the fun she would have, & the family she'd gain.
1. Chapter 1, Arrival to Earth

Author's Note: I placed this story in the movie universe, but added characters from the G1 series and an OC Autobot of my own. I have the cannon pairings of Prime with Elita, Ironhide with Chromia, and Inferno with Firestar. The Autobots live on NEST Base, and the Decepticons live in an underwater base as in G1. Nobody dies in this fic, although a few may come close. I'll have darker chapters and lighter chapters, some serious parts and some not so serious parts. Always slash and smut free.

The title, "You have found a home…," comes from the chorus of a song by the Scottish artist Dougie Maclean. It seemed fitting.

_-You have found a home in the centre of the circle  
You have found a home where the harmonies can shine  
And in the breathing of the turning leaves your heart is heard forever  
You have found a home  
You have found a home..._

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Chapter 1

**Arrival to Earth**

Ironhide stood beside Optimus Prime, awaiting the arrival of the inbound Transformer. Prowl stood a little way off, closer to the access road, still waiting for Ratchet to arrive. Ratchet had lingered to question the Aerialbot who'd flown the small greeting party to a place within thirty miles of the estimated landing site. The ground-bridge system was almost ready for use, but not quite. Ironhide mused that he'd be relieved once it was.

Ironhide glanced upwards. '_Ratchet had better hurry_.' he thought; the inbound Transformer was in view now, streaming through the evening sky, looking like a meteorite as it came through the earth's atmosphere.

Ratchet came, driving quickly, kicking up some dirt, and stopping to transform once he came to where we stood. Prowl followed, walking. "Nice of you to make it." Ironhide commented; ages ago, he'd devoted himself to getting on Ratchet's nerves. The medic smiled sarcastically.

"Do we have a faction reading on the new one yet?" Prime asked when Prowl came near.

"No, sir." Prowl answered, his door-wings dipping down ever so slightly. "Everything is blocked: signal, status, faction… mech or femme, I cannot tell. It is small though."

"It would be nice if it was a femme," Ratchet said. There were only a few femmes at NEST Base, and most of them were already bonded. Ironhide smiled, pleased at the thought of femmes, or rather, one femme; one of the few on base was his, Chromia, and he though she was exquisite. He would have liked to day-dream about her, but his warning systems nudged him to consider other things, like Decepticons.

"It would be nice if we could tell if it was a Decepticon or not." Ironhide stated, growling a little. Decepticons were bad news. Ironhide didn't want another one on this planet. And, if it was a Con, other Cons would be showing up to welcome it. He didn't want to be around any Decepticon welcoming party.

"I hate to say it, Ironhide, but I agree with you." Ratchet muttered, adjusting a piece of armor on his forearm.

The air grew hot, and the area grew brighter. The Transformer flashed by and thudded into the ground a moment later, sending a small tremor of the ground. Impact.

Ironhide had his cannons out and ready; he wasn't taking any chances. Ratchet was fully prepared to deal with an injured Transformer, be it 'Bot or 'Con. And Prowl was alert and at Prime's command.

Prime walked towards the gash in the land, but Ironhide could tell he was being cautious.

The Transformer began to come out of its transport mode; it was a small one, and its signal and signs then uncloaked. Ironhide detected Decepticon armor.

"'CON!" Ironhide snapped.

"Femme!" Ratchet shouted back at him.

"Hold your fire!" Prime commanded. "Autobots! Calm down! Fall back!" he issued his orders. They fell silent and moved back half a step.

The femme stood up –she was only a small femme, not even quite as big as Bumblebee- and looked at the towering mechs before her with wide blue optics. She stood as tall as she could, trying to appear strong and fearless, but the shudder that ran through her form gave her away. She did not seem like someone who would ally with the Cons. She was little, and she was scared, and her door-wings trembled as their sensors took in a frightening myriad of new data.

Prime took a non-threatening step toward her; Ironhide raised his cannons as a precation but he highly doubted she would do anything. She was little more than a youngling. Hardly a life-Energon thirsty killer.

"-#-*-*-#-**-###- - * -*-#*- **-." She clicked in a soft, little voice that faltered. Ironhide felt his spark melt at her stuttered greeting.

"-~*~~ ~~*## ~***-*-." Prime welcomed her to earth then said gently, "You will need to pick the English for this planet."

"I… do… some…" she answered, hesitating as she searched for words. "I… am n-not a 'C-con."

"Explain that armor then." Ironhide ordered firmly.

She looked down at her upper-arm-guards and vambraces as if they suddenly had poison on them. Very quickly, then she disengaged their catches, took them off and threw them on the ground, leaving only her light preliminary armor to protect her arms. Her main armoring was pink. "Please accept my apologies, sir." She stumbled over the words in the strange new language. "It's not mine. I h-hate cons. No kill..."

Ironhide felt his spark completely melt towards her. There in her light armor, she was vulnerable. It was clear that she had put herself at their mercy, naively trusting them. And evidently she had only just begun searching the World Wide Web and utilizing it to speak English. Her arrival had not been thought out much.

Ironhide glanced at Prime, and Ironhide could tell that a smile was creeping up behind his battle mask at her words and simple actions.

"Here," Prime said, crouching down to her height. She skittered backwards a few steps and looked around quickly, trying to assess where to hide. Prime didn't draw any closer, but he held out a data chip. "We made this to help new-comers." He told her in English then translated it into Cybertronian. "~*#-*- -~~_) **-*-… It will help you to learn this language." Bumblebee had spent hours compiling and formatting various words and grammar and syntax rules to create something like a _How to Speak English _e-book for Cybertronians. Ironhide was quite pleased with this accomplishment of Bee's, for Ironhide had little patience when it came to sorting that kind of thing.

The little femme was clearly afraid to take it from him, but she held out a hand for it, squinting her optics in a wince. He set it gently in her palm and brushed her fingers with his as his drew them back. She felt his power as Prime, Ironhide knew; all the bots felt it when he touched them. She hesitated a little when she felt his strength. But the data chip caught her attention. She pressed it into her hand, sliding it beneath her light armor a fraction, and began to download the information.

"Oh…" she said, her optics began to glow with wonder as she processed the material. Prime, Ratchet, Prowl, and Ironhide watched the expressions on her face. She appeared to like the new input, taking innocent joy in this previously un-encountered thing. She seemed to forget that the mechs were there, and she laughed out right, a delighted laugh, not one of scorn or derision.

Ironhide frowned at her laugh; she was too unaware of her surroundings. Had she not been a new 'Bot, Ironhide would have fired his cannon past her shoulder to make her pay heed. Still… a young Autobot enjoying something new – and earth-related- was something not to be frowned upon. The safety issues, Ironhide knew, she would learn soon enough.

She refocused on the mechs once the data was completely downloaded.

"Welcome to earth." Prime greeted her, deciding to start over from the beginning. "I am Optimus Prime."

"I am honored." She replied, neatly bowing a slight bow. "I am… am… not finding any translation for my name."

"Many 'Bots choose new names to go by when they come to earth." Optimus answered.

"Oh… shall I do so promptly…?"

"Perhaps there are some other things you should do first." Ironhide suggested. "Like tell us about yourself. I am an Autobot, designation: Ironhide, Weapons Specialist; I arrived with Prime when he came to this planet." He introduced himself as an example and waited for her to follow it.

She looked to Prime; Prime nodded. She lowered her optics shyly. "I am *~*~-~*." She said, "I be…was…am… a neutral. I received your message some time ago, Prime, the one which was sent out to all Autobots. I didn't process much about it until a couple of Seekers tried to attack me and take me with them. Err…" She faltered and darted a glance at Ironhide. Ironhide had rolled his cannons without thinking as his anger toward the Decepticons arose.

"It's alright." Optimus told her gently, "Ironhide just gets a little trigger happy when it comes to 'Cons picking on femmes… or anyone. Put the guns away, Ironhide."

She peered cautiously at the bulky Weapons' Master, thinking him quite intimidating. Ironhide reluctantly sub-spaced his cannons, not wanting to be unarmed, but knowing he must obey orders, especially as an example to the new comer. She eyed him curiously for a second before she continued. "After that I decided that I would come here and join the Autobots. And here I is."

"Here I am." Prime corrected kindly, and Ratchet hid a smile.

"I see you." She didn't quite understand.

"What I meant was, you were supposed to say 'here I am,' instead of 'here I is.'"

Her face heated up a little. "Oh…"

"Don't worry about it; it's a fairly easy language for us to learn, and you'll catch on pretty quickly."

"What is your programming? ~~``*`'`-`** #*''1' –''`'`''-*- -*-?" Prowl asked.

"Um…" she paused, looking for the right words. "Ah, I believe I have some things to do with communications and secretarial work… maybe? I organize files and sort information, and I do programming as good… as well. I compile histories and create databases, too. And I set into glyphs many happenings. Reports… I think."

::What do you think, Ratchet? – A match for Prowl?:: Ironhide sent to Ratchet over the intercom, amusement warming in his optics. ::Files, information, histories, databases, reports. Pretty compatible, eh?::

::HA!::Ratchet sent. He snickered at the thought of logical, work-orientated Prowl bonding with a femme. Prowl never socialized. But he liked the idea of Prowl bonding. Prowl was a lonely bot who probably needed a partner in life more than he realized.

"At what are you sniggering? Have I said anything I oughtn't?" the femme asked. That was a movie line. She's found the World Wide Web.

"I apologize. I was communicating on my intercom with someone else, and he made a humorous remark." Ratchet answered courteously. Ironhide smirked. Ratchet disregarded him and went on, "I am Ratchet." He said, introducing himself, "Chief Medical Officer. ~-~-~_-~*^^~~-~-_`"

"My pleasure…" she said, though, she wasn't certain of the exact meaning. Ironhide smirked a little more. No-Bot said my pleasure to Ratchet once they knew him.

Ratchet was amused, "Hmm. Of course. May I ask you a question?"

She nodded.

"Are all your sensors online? -#*^-~~-~_#**?" he translated.

"No…" she said, checking.

Ironhide slipped his battle mask into place. There was no telling what the femme would do when her sensors informed her of the billions of organic life-forms.

"SCHREEEEEE! What-****~#*#~*~-*?" She shrieked, starting to dance uncomfortably.

"Dirt is on you." Prowl said, calm as ever. "And, as a consequence, also millions of tiny biological organisms that…"

"Not helpful, Prowl!" Ratchet snapped at him. "Calm down, femme-ling, calm down." He took her gently by the shoulders. She was shuddering awfully hard. "It is fine. It is okay." He soothed, crouching down to her level, and then he directed her to tone down several sections of sensor arrays. "Dirt won't hurt. It doesn't look pretty, but it's harmless on the exterior. We'll teach you about it, later."

"It's okay?" she asked to make certain. She was still trembling.

"Basically. It's not so good for your inner-workings, but a little on the outside is okay. In fact, some mechs actually like to have it smeared across their exteriors; it makes them look like they've been in some action and look _tough_." He made a face.

She giggled appreciatively.

::WOW, Ratchet! You made a femme laugh; I can't believe it…:: Ironhide jested over the intercom.

"Ironhide even likes to be completely coated with it." Ratchet said, rising, "Like this:" he rammed into the truck-mech, knocking him to the ground and rolling him over into the dirt.

This made the little femme giggle. Ironhide gave Ratchet a dirty look. "Two can play-"

"The English word for that is 'rough-housing.'" Prime said as Ironhide shoved Ratchet down.

The little femme nodded politely while her facial expression suggested mild consternation. There were some many strange words in the database.

"Prime…" Prowl was dissatisfied with the proceedings.

"Easy, Prowl." Prime answered, "Enough, you two."

Ratchet came up and slung the extra dirt off his hands. Ironhide rose, filthy, and looked around with a menacing face. There was no doubt about Ironhide being tough.

The little femme looked half intimidated, half entertained.

"Time to roll back." Prime said to him mechs then addressed the little femme, "Retrieve that Decepticon armor that you brought."

She frowned as if unwilling, and her door-wings flicked, but did as she was bidden, and Ratchet and Ironhide blasted and kicked dirt back into the landing crater.

Prowl felt a certain uneasiness that was growing close but still indistinct. He checked his sensors closely but found nothing. It didn't seem right. He paused then shifted his door-wings and heightened the sensitivity on their sensory panels.

"Ready?" Prime asked then a bolt of apprehension slashed through his sensors.

The air above the snapped then with the sharp crack of a teleporter. Blue optics jerked upwards.

"_Ready or not_, here we come!" Skywarp sang tauntingly above them. Then Starscream and Thundercracker came diving down in jet mode towards the bots.

Ironhide cursed. There was nothing like a Seeker ambush for a welcoming party.


	2. Chapter 2, Strike of the Seekers

Wow! Thanks for the great reviews on Chapter 1! They really made my day! XD

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Chapter 2

**Strike of the Seekers**

The little femme had jumped towards Ironhide when the Seekers came out of nowhere. He was, in her optics, the most intimidating of the four mechs. While the Prime was taller, Ironhide had something about him, a roughness that Prime lacked, that made her think he'd keep the Seekers away better, keeping her safer.

"DUCK!" Prime roared in English.

The femme-ling frowned, puzzled as she began to search the word-bank data-chip. A waterfowl. A quick lowering -

She cried out when Ironhide slammed her into the ground. It hurt her first of all, sending countless little alerts to her pain sensor cortex, and it scared her secondly. She lay there, not moving, slightly stunned by the impact, and quite terrified. She saw only darkness, but she could hear the roaring, rattling blasts of canon fire.

"Get that armor back on." Ironhide roared down at her, his blue optics blazing for a second before they turned away.

She blinked, realizing then that it was so dark because she was pinned under him. _That_ was why she'd been slammed to the ground. Unprotected by her light armor, he'd dove over her to protect her. Shifting a little, she found that her door-wings were pinned down, caught, trapped. She cringed as something exploded nearby; then she clawed at the dirt to gain some traction to roll over.

Fear was building up in her spark. Her armor, her armor, she had to get her armor back on, and she was panicking about it under fire. She had no idea how she was supposed to get her armor back on whilst crumpled up under several tons of ancient warrior, and she was terrified that he might give her to the Cons if she disobeyed. That was the things she feared the most: getting sent away.

She whimpered then told herself to focus. She would gain nothing by losing her head. She was just a young little femme, but she wasn't a sparkling. She could do this. She _would_ do this.

She gusted air through her system to cool it and then wriggled to assess how much room she had. Not much. And there was less when Ironhide brought his elbow in. The little femme shifted away. Ironhide had a canon now and was firing back at the Cons. Watch the elbow!

Squirming, she tried to find more space, but between the earth and Ironhide, there was none. Pain sensors in her shoulder screamed at her when she shoved the piece of arm armor in place. She clenched her jaws and wedged her fingers against a rock to latch the armor in place. Now she felt warm life-Energon oozing from her knuckles and made her feel sick.

Ironhide shifted, and she rolled a little, taking advantage of the space and clamped her vambrace on one arm, then flattened and snapped the other in place. She half-rolled again, but then Ironhide moved and her wing got caught.

"Ooow!" she squealed "OWWW!"

"Quiet!" Ironhide bellowed down at her.

She gave him a kick, and miraculously, it seemed, he knew to shift. She jerked her wing free, and tears sprung to her optics at the pain that torn them. She wanted to crumple up and sob right there. She wished she'd stayed on Cybertron and taken her chance there. It might have been better than getting shot at and crushed.

"Armor on yet?" Ironhide yelled down at her.

She bit her lips. "Yes!"

"Have you weapons?" he yelled over the gunfire.

"No; I'm a neutral-."

He cursed briefly, but a blast from Thundercracker's sonic weapon drowned it.

"What?" the femme-ling asked.

"Nevermind! Keep out underfoot and do NOT cut me with these." He rose then, pulling the little femme up to her feet by her poor abused wings and shoving twin knives at her. She took them with a look a horror.

She had no idea what to do with these things. She started to look up at Ironhide with opened mouth and wide optics, but he grabbed her by the shoulder and put her firmly against his leg. "Stay close." He ordered, and from the scared look she darted up at him, he knew there was no way she'd intentionally disobey him at the moment.

He began fired hard and fast at the Seekers then, and the little femme stayed with her back pressed against his leg. She ducked when he moved his arms, and she held the twin knives carefully, being as little of an impediment to her protector as possible.

The seekers began to fly in a circle around the Autobots then, weaving in little by little as they dodged shots.

The femme-ling watched. It was vaguely familiar. She watched carefully, and then realized what it was. It was the Circle of Death. Her old guardian had always left toys for her to play with, and when she'd learned how to read, there were all kinds of books to read. There'd been one about war and battle, later. That book had described this. The Seekers would slowly working their way in, making the circle smaller and smaller, and then they would just kill everybody inside the circle.

It had been interesting to read about the different battle tactics, but… she suddenly realized how real they were.

And she was going to _die!_

She whimpered as the realization sunk in. She'd been hungry when she'd left Cybertron, and the traveling hadn't been fun, and now, now she was going to be killed in the Circle of Death on a strange dirty planet.

"They are going to kill us…" she whimpered, crumpling to the ground at Ironhide's feet, "Th-they are going to kill me…" Her body and wings trembled, and she started to cry, "I d-do n-not want to die-!"

"Get UP!" Ironhide ordered.

She whimpered and curled up into a small ball at his feet. "No die…" she sobbed softly.

Ironhide blasted at the Seekers again and then stooped quickly to pull the trembling little femme to her feet and out from under his. "We're not gonna die, 'cause I won't let them kill us. Stand up!"

She hiccupped but did as she was told, clinging to him.

"They're getting closer!" Ratchet said, cursing.

"LAND, YOU PUNKS!" Ironhide roared at the Seekers. "FIGHT ON YOUR FEET LIKE REAL MECHS!"

"I have a proposition for you, Prime!" Starscream shouted as he whizzed by.

"WHAT!" Prime yelled back.

"You give us Ironhide, and then everybot else gets to live, and we won't devastate the peaceful little town that lies fifty miles away from here."

"Hold your fire then! I can't think with you Seekers blasting away like this." Prime answered.

The Seekers stopped firing but kept up their circling.

The Autobot mechs were quiet for several moments, conferring with each other over intercom. The little femme hid her face against Ironhide so she couldn't see the sickening Seekers. Her intercom was down. It had never worked well. It didn't matter anymore, she supposed, since the Seekers were going to kill them all.

"Whhhhelll?" asked Starscream, too sweetly. "I'm waiting!"

"I don't know…" Prime said, sounding hesitant. He transformed. "Why don't I just leave?"

Prime gunned his engine and leapt out, and the Seekers dove in on him. The other three mechs went after the Seekers.

"I THINK NOT!" Prime shouted as he slashed Thundercracker across the wings with his sword.

The little femme started to pick herself up then stopped and crouched down. Ironhide had pushed her down before he'd jumped after the Seekers, so she decided that she should stay down. There were four Autobots and three Decepticons, she counted, so she supposed the odds were good.

Something blasted behind her then. She squealed as she ducked her head then peeked to see what had happened. Nothing good had happened; Skywarp had teleported in a couple yards away from her. She rose and backed away.

"Come, come; don't be shy!" Skywarp cooed. "I just wanna hug," He snickered, moving towards her.

She screeched with all her might, emitting a high-pitched scream that could work as a weapon, given some practice. It drew Starscream's attention, and he found that Skywarp wasn't being helpful.

"Help _US_, Skywarp!" Starscream ordered, as he twisted Prowl's door-wing, "NOW! OW-!" Ratchet slashed his leg with a medical laser. "Yeeeeeuuu!"

Skywarp teleported back into the fight and proceeded to get his hind-plating kicked by Ironhide.

The little femme huddled on the ground, hugging her legs to her chest and trying to not shake so hard. Teleporting Decepticons lived here? How did anybot stay alive, she wondered. That Con could come out of nowhere. She pinned her wings down. Maybe, maybe this was a bad idea, she thought. It was this or trying to fend for herself on Cybertron, and, frankly, she couldn't decide which place was worse.

Then she sensed something quiet and looked around. Another Transformer was coming, floating almost soundlessly through the evening air. He was a deep blue color and of a huge size, perhaps Prime's size. He had a calm look, calm to the point of indifference. His feet touched the ground, his gaze never deviating from the little femme. She gazed back, mesmerized by how quiet he was. His visor gave the impression that he never blinked, and it was a little disconcerting.

She suddenly realized that it wasn't the visor's effect that was troubling: it was its color. Scarlet.

She jumped up.

"ANOTHER CON IS COMING!" she howled to the Autobot mechs, running to be a little closer to the mêlée.

Starscream was yelling for something; Prime had rolled on top of him, pinning him down. "LET ME GO, PRIME-!"

"Yeah, yeah, Starscream! Just try to retreat." Ironhide jeered.

Thundercracker kicked and stumbled his way out of the fight while Skywarp simply teleported out. They soared up into the air and hovered, looking rather dinged. Starscream was still trying to break Optimus Prime's strangle hold.

"_Return to Base."_ The new Con ordered the two Seekers. He spoke with cold, indifferent monotones _"I shall attend Starscream."_

Starscream broke away from Prime and ran to the new Con. "Soundwave," he greeted, "You've come in the nick of t-! AIGHHHH!" his yelled as Soundwave pinched him up by one wing.

_"Quiet."_ Soundwave said and refocused on first the femme-ling then mechs.

The mechs had all risen and were facing Soundwave, ready to blast him in a nanosecond. The femme-ling had run to Ironhide and half hidden herself behind him. Her little wings were shaking and her optics were wide as she peered out at the Cons. Ironhide felt a tremor run through her body, and he put a gentle hand on her shoulder to reassure her.

Soundwave regarded the Autobots in silence. The dark red of his optical visor glowed above his battle-mask, his face showing no expression whatsoever.

"This Con is the one that gives me the most creeps; I like it better when they're screaming about their great big plans" Ratchet murmured. Prowl nodded ever-so-slightly. His frame was completely ridged, his wings and face betraying nothing.

"What do you want, Soundwave?" Prime asked deliberately. He knew that the Con had fairly willed him to speak first.

"_Trade."_

"What?" Prime asked although he highly doubted Soundwave had anything to trade.

"_Con femme."_

The femme-ling jumped out from behind Ironhide. "I'm not-!" She started, but Ironhide clamped a hand over her mouth so hard that it hurt. She whimpered, and he loosened his grip. When she didn't say anything further, he removed it.

"_I would trade Starscream for the femme."_ Soundwave said,_" Starscream: more valuable to you. I become second in command."_

"WHATDOYOUTHINKYOUARESAYING-?-!" The Con in question started to yell. Soundwave silenced him with a twist of his wing.

"Whoa…" Ironhide sounded stunned. He and the other mechs stared at the Con.

The femme-ling stared as well, feeling felt sick at the thought. This Con would trade the second-in-command for her. Anybody could imagine how valuable a prisoner the Decepticon SiC would be: a whole lot more valuable than a little nobody who just showed up. Fear clenched her spark. She didn't want to be traded, but would these high-rank officer strangers care?

She found Ironhide's hand and slipped hers into it. "Don't trade me, please…" she whispered. Ironhide's hand tightened gently around hers, and his other hand settled on her shoulder. She wasn't going anywhere.

"You are mistaken." Prime told the Con. "She is a neutral, not a Decepticon."

"_Neutral; I offer choice."_

"You do have that right to offer choice of side" Prime said, sounding unwilling but diplomatic and gesturing that the Con could ask. Ironhide audibly gnashed his teeth and growled a low, threatening growl.

"_Fair femme, join the Decepticons?"_

"N-never!" She forcibly. "Never, ever, ever in two blue moons." Ironhide winced; she was going to need help with English phrases. "Your creepy kind tried to wrong me!"

"_Not I. Come; I give protection, care, Energon, training; you request, I grant."_

"You fraggin' liar." Ironhide snarled, "You Cons don't even know how to treat femmes. The ones who aren't tough enough or hard enough for the battlefield, you-" his optics swept down to the little femme. Maybe she wasn't young enough that she didn't know. She didn't need to know, "You enslave or offline. How dare you even put the word 'care' through your vocalize. How dare you even process making such an offer."

"_You over-generalize. Few ever receive that treatment."_

"I still turn off your request." The femme-ling said, eyeing him darkly. She didn't have the correct word, but the meaning was still conveyed.

"_Prime,"_

"No deal." Prime said firmly. "I will never trade a femme for a Con."

Soundwave hesitated, not willing to accept defeat.

"You are gonna be sooo slagged when Megatron finds this out." Starscream said, smirking.

"_No. Recall files 234 and 695."_

"BLACKMAIL! Youuuuuu…"

"Have a nice night, Soundwave. We'll see you later, no doubt." Prime said dryly.

Soundwave ground several gears. _"Tend her well." _He growled. He gave her one intense look before taking to the sky and disappearing into the dark.

"Those Cons get stranger ever time." Ironhide said, staring after the Decepticon.

"It everybot alright?" Ratchet asked.

"Functional, only exterior damages except for my door-wings." Prowl answered.

"I'll fix them –again- when we get back to the base." Ratchet answered. "Prime? 'Hide? Femme-ling?"

"A little scorched armor here and some scratches, but I will be fine." Prime answered.

"Same here." Ironhide replied. "Mostly. Nothing Chromia can't take care of."

The femme-ling was quiet, looking down.

"Femme-ling?" Ratchet prompted. They needed to hurry up and get going.

Her head lowered further.

Ironhide gave her a nudge after a couple moments. "Answer Ratchet." He told her gently but firmly.

"All me hurts." She said softly, looking distressed. Ratchet saw a tear well up in one of her optics. "Mine shoulder especially when Ironhide squashed me down… dented my first armor, and it pinches nerves. And here hurt," she indicated her hands then knees. "And… my wings ouch."

Ratchet came close and knelt down, taking out his scanner. "For starters, duck next time Prime says 'duck' and you won't end up getting crunched up under a five ton mech." He said as he scanned her shoulder.

"The word 'duck' has lots of meanings." The femme-ling said quietly.

"I guess it does…" He said, "Take off your shoulder armor, and I'll take care of you shoulder."

She removed the heavier outer armor and then the dented light preliminary armor. Ratchet shorted the pain relays in her shoulder then and focused intently on repairing the pinched nerve-wires in her shoulder. She kept her head tilted to the side a little, keeping her mouth shut tightly. "Done there." Ratchet said presently. He took the light piece of armor and gave it a firm rap with his first, flattening the dent so it wouldn't pinch. "There." He said, giving it back to her. She took it without a word and put both armor types back one.

He focused his scanner on her knees. "Just bruised." He said, "Hands,"

She held out her hands. They were bruised, too, and the one hand had dried life-Energon on it from where she'd gashed her knuckles.

"We'll need to clean this thoroughly later, but it will be fine for now." Ratchet said after holding his scanner over the hurt hand. "Now the fun part. Turn so I can scan your wings."

She turned obediently but not happily.

Ratchet knelt and scanned the wings and wing connectors. Part of the repairs could wait; he'd leave them and do them in Med-Bay. Other repairs needed to be done so further damaged wouldn't be done when she transformed.

While Ratchet assessed her wings, the little femme looked up at Ironhide, since she was facing him, and saw that he looked sad. She looked down. Mech didn't like anybody seeing them sad, she thought.

"Femme-ling," Ironhide said gently,

She looked up at him again.

"I am sorry I was so rough with you." He said, "It was a battlefield, and it's rough on a battlefield, but I should have been more careful." He looked down. "I would never hurt a femme-ling. I only meant to keep you safe."

The femme-ling nodded. "It is okay." She said slowly, hoping she was getting the right words. "I know you were meant to protect me."

Ironhide smiled. He knew she meant "you were_ meaning_ to protect," but the way she got the verb form wrong made it sound like she knew he was meant to be her guardian. Maybe he would be, he thought. She had gravitated towards him.

"Okay," Ratchet said, "This is going to pinch a bit and it will probably hurt some as well."

A little look of dread crossed her face, and Ironhide knelt before her, gently taking her hands in his. "It'll be alright." He told her. He would be there for her, to reassure her.

Ratchet spent quite a few minutes tending to the little door-wings. He did his best to be gentle, but the little femme cried out in pain several times and squeezed Ironhide's fingers. She whimpered several time, and at one point she'd howled.

Ratchet finished as soon as he could and rose. "Do you mind needles?" he asked, holding up a pain-killer shot for her to see what he meant.

"Okay." She said, not sure how to answer. "Okay" seemed like a pretty general word for yes, fine, do it, etc.

Ratchet gave her the shot, and much of the pain in her body faded away. She thought she would probably be happy now if she had some Energon and wasn't so tired.

"Here," Ratchet said, handing her something smallish and round.

It looked like candy. She took it hesitantly. '_Never take candy from strangers._' She eyed Prime. Surely the medic who served right under Prime wouldn't give her bad candy.

"Put it in your mouth." Ratchet told her. "It will help with your energy levels." He explained as she slipped in cautiously into her mouth, "We need to get moving now. We'll get you some Energon later."

"Okay." It didn't taste like candy, but she was hungry enough that it tasted fairly good.

"Alright." He said. "Let's hit the road now – If you're ready, Prime."

"I am ready. Let us go."

"Rode. Road. Rhode. Rowed." The femme-ling said. "What's road? Error, uh, _which_ road?"


	3. Chapter 3, Names and AltModes

Thanks for the great reviews! And thanks to my beta!

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Chapter 3

**Names and Alt-Modes**

I glanced over my shoulder at my officers and the little femme, checking on them as we walked through some woods along a winding dirt road. The little femme had been quiet ever since Ratchet had finished repairing her pretty door-wings. I asked Ratchet about her door-wings over the intercom, asking why she had fussed so much.

::I think she's not used to getting hurt. She also doesn't have the 'stiff upper-lip' msost mechs like to keep:: Ratchet

::That makes sense. Thank-you:: Prime

::I also have the suspicion that she's a little bit spoiled.:: Ratchet

I raised an optic ridge and smiled. Ratchet tended to think most Bots who were much younger than he were spoiled.

"AH!" the little femme yelped, and I heard a small crash. Stopping, I turned and looked, my officers were looking, too; Ironhide was bemused as he looked down at her. She was sprawled out on the ground.

"This planet has strange … terrain? It's not even." She said, appearing a little confused at her stumble.

"Has your balancing system been recalibrated for earth's gravity field?" Prowl asked.

"I… um… um… _no comprendo_."

Ironhide chuckled, but Ratchet groaned. "Let me put that in Cybertronion for you," Ratchet said. "-**^*-~~ -^~**~*.?"

"No, it has not…" she answered. "I didn't know it could."

"Hmm." Ratchet said. "Well, earth does have a very different gravity field from Cybertron."

"Oh."

"I'll fix it for you. But I'll explain it later so you'll know how if you ever go to a different planet."

"Okay."

My poor exasperated Medic crouched down and sat the little Bot up to access the system through her shoulder.

"What's this?" she asked, picking up a rock.

"It's a rock," I said quickly, seeing Prowl open his mouth. Our little newcomer was not ready for Prowl's technical definitions of earth.

"Interesting…" she mused, turning it over several times. Then she bit it lightly, experimentally.

"Don't eat it!" Ironhide exclaimed, horrified. She looked up in surprise.

"I wasn't going to." She said innocently. "I was just seeing what it was like more closely."

"No." Ironhide told her firmly.

::Prime!:: Ironhide protested over the intercom. ::She's practically a sparkling still! What are we going to do with her?::

::We'll take her home and feed her, put her to bed, and find a guardian for her.:: Prime

::You make it sound easy.:: Ironhide

"Putting things in your mouth is not the best way to examine them more closely." Prowl advised. "I suggest the -*^*~~ scanner."

She concentrated for two seconds then brought that scanner online and focused it on the rock. "Oh…! … Cool!"

"Okay, we're done. Get up. We're going." Ratchet said, pulling her to her feet as he straightened.

"There are lots of rocks here…" she marveled looked around.

"Say 'thank-you' the nice medic." Ratchet prompted.

"Thank-you."

I gave Ratchet a consoling rub on the shoulder as we started back to the road.

"Hmm. Rock, stone, pebble, gravel, sand, dirt…" the little femme said, exploring the words. "Dirt, soil, clay, dust, mud, earth, ground… ground, grind, clench, grit… " she paused to giggle then she went on exploring her new language, "Grits, greens, corn-bread, pinto beans…Beanie Babies, Tinker-Toys, My Little Pony's… Pony, horse, colt, nag… nag, scold, gripe…"

I smiled and glanced around at my officers. Prowl was surprised but didn't look too confused, Ratchet looked doubtful, but Ironhide said, "SH, femme-ling. It's a bad idea to needlessly talk out loud while walking through unknown territory."

She stopped listing words and considered this a moment before nodding to Ironhide to convey that she had heard him and understood. We continued on for a little while more before she stopped short and looked around.

"What is that… noise-sound?" She asked quickly and quietly.

I listened, but couldn't single out any unusual sound.

"It… sings?" She said uncertainly.

I smiled as realized that she was listening to everything and had picked up something that most of us usually paid no heed to. "It is a bird singing."

She seemed mesmerized by the evening bird's call. "It's beautiful."

I let her listen for several more seconds before moving on. It pleased me to know that she was showing signs of greatly liking and appreciating earth and its life-forms. Not all the Autobots had an enthusiasm for this new planet.

She mimicked the bird's song softly. She broke off suddenly and swept her optics towards Ironhide as she put a hand up to her mouth. The old warrior nodded.

::I don't think she's that spoiled, Ratchet.:: Prime

We neared the little highway, and we stopped behind the trees to scan for cars. Traffic was almost non-existent on this highway at this time of night, but we couldn't risk being seen.

"OH!" The femme exclaimed, looking up to the skies, "**-*-~*~~!"

I looked up, knowing that word; The Aurora Borealis were glowing and shimmering a blue-purple color.

"I didn't know…. Hadn't thought… that the **-*-~*~~ danced on earth!" She said, a warm joy flowing through her voice.

"They do. These ones are called _Aurora Borealis_; the ones in the south are called _Aurora Australis."_ Prowl informed her.

"I love them; I had thought… that… I would never see them again when I left Cybertron." She said softly.

"As did I," I answered, "They are a beautiful phenomenon, but now we must move on and get back to the base. We can come north again to look for some more at a later time."

She nodded.

"Car coming." Ironhide said. "Scan it, femme-ling; you'll need an alt-mode for the trip down the highway."

"I have an alt-mode." She replied, sounding a little puzzled, but she scanned the vehicle with a quick efficiency.

"Your alt-mode from Cybertron?"

She nodded.

He shook his head. "We can't use them on earth; they are too different and would draw too much attention."

"Why was there a relatively large biological organism in that drone?"

Prowl's expression registered surprise, and his door-wings twitched up.

Ratchet clapped a hand over his optics.

"You don't know about humans?" Ironhide asked tentatively.

"No…" she said, looking around at us. "Should I…?"

"Aye-yi-yi! Did you do NO research before plummeting down here?" Ratchet exclaimed, waving his hands in exasperation.

She crossed her arms and tilted her chin up. "I don't know _everything_." She retorted, implying that he thought he did.

"Do not use that tone with me, young femme."

She dropped her head, hiding her face with her hands. "I'm sorry," she said, sounding weepy to our dismay, "Th-there's t-too much!"

"Now, now; there's not too much," Ratchet said gruffly, reaching out and patting her shoulder. "I moved too quickly. Okay? You'll make through; it will be easier back at base."

"Okay." She made an effort to pull herself make together and smiled up a Ratchet. "Humans are the main and most intelligent biological life form on this planet, aren't they?"

He nodded. "Yes. I can see you'll need some education."

"I also need a name…" she trailed off into thought.

I readied myself for anything when she smiled and turned to look up at me. "Would Aurora be a good earth name?"

Hopefulness rang in her tone; I could tell that she really wanted the name, yet I knew I had to tell her no. I shook my head.

"No…? Why not?"

"'Aurora' is not only a name for the phenomena, but it is also the name of a goddess. While most humans no longer believe in many various gods and goddesses, we must not take names of such. It gives a wrong impression of us." I explained.

She frowned, hesitating. "But, many humans take these names… Venus Williams, Artimus Gordon…" She must have been quick on her internet search. She fell silent as her sensors picked up my displeasure.

"Look at me." I told her. She complied, tilting her head back, "Who am I?"

"You are Optimus Prime."

"Yes. Prime, leader of the Autobots. And when I say 'no', I mean 'no'." I said firmly. "Humans do many, many things we would never do. Taking the names of old gods is one such thing. You must find a different name." I informed her. I could almost feel her discontentment. And her optics had a little sulky glow.

'This is a neutral you are dealing with,' I said to myself, 'Thus… she is not used to being ordered about. True, she must learn to accept it, but as Prime you must be understanding. Train her, don't break her.'

"Perhaps there is a meaning you would like to convey in your name, and we could search from there?" I suggested. Now my officers were thinking my programming had gotten a glitch in it.

:: Prime, it seems like you're encouraging… poutiness:: Ratchet warned

::Think about it, Ratchet. Everything is different from what she has ever known, and her new leader stomps on the name she wants. She has a right to be upset. I have a duty to help her adapt:: Prime

::Understood::Ratchet

"I don't know…" She said.

"You are fond of the brightness and color of the Auroras, are you not?" I asked.

"Yes." She answered, perking up a little.

"Blaze is a good word for brightness. As for color…"

"I like the bright colors, gold and orangey ones a lot." She ventured. I considered this. "Not acceptable?" She asked, looking concerned.

"They are acceptable; however, orange is not really a word that lends itself to being a name. Gold, is though: Goldie, Golden … no…"

"Are there other words that mean gold?" She asked, "Oh, 'aurous' means 'gold-bearing'… better, but not great."

I had an idea then. "We can make up new words from the roots of earth words, –within reason-."

"Really?"

I nodded, "Aurrr… Aurion; Aurion-Blaze."

She considered the name, running it through her processors. "Aurr-i-on… Aurion Blaze." She finally said out loud, and then she grinned.

"Can we go now?" Ratchet asked. Ironhide smacked him on the arm.

"Is the name satisfactory?" I asked.

"Oh, yes! 'Tis more than satisfactory!" She danced a little.

"We can go then." I said. "Autobots, transform." I issued the oft given command and folded down into my Peterbilt truck form. Ironhide transformed into his Topkick truck mode; Ratchet, his emergency vehicle; and Prowl his patrol car. The femme twitched a little and frowned. Ratchet came back up in bi-pedal form.

"Is everything alright?" he asked. I transformed back into bi-pedal mode as well and came over.

"No. The alt-mode is very ugly." She said.

I crossed my arms with a clank to keep from covering my face. Ironhide chuckled. "Well, there's no doubt about this." He said.

"What?" I asked, not nearly as amused.

"This is a femme we're dealing with."

"Mm-hm."

"Live with it femme-ling." Ratchet ordered, "You can choose a new one the second you see one that you like better."

She tucked her head down, but not before I saw a flicker of all out frustration in her optics.

"I'm sorry, but you will have to use this alt-mode until you find a better one." I told her more sympathetically, "You must look like an earth vehicle to drive on the roads."

"Can't we walk?"

"No."

"B-"

"What does 'no' mean?" I had to be firm.

"No means… no." she answered, gusting a little air through her cooling-system with resignation.

"Autobots, transform and roll out."

She transformed into a little nondescript, tan-colored two-door sedan. Then I felt a little guilty; the alt-form was indeed ugly, and I started to wonder if there was something I could do about it. But there wasn't. I led the Autobots to the highway. Ironhide revved his engine in readiness.

"And maintain the legal speed limit." I added as our tires met the paved highway.

Ironhide revved his engine more and zigzagged in front of Ratchet, chuckled, but then he settled in place and drove nicely. I led, Ironhide came behind me, then the little femme followed; Ratchet drove behind her, and Prowl brought up the rear.

'This has been a little bit of a rough start,' I reflected. 'But things will go better once we get onto the base… or, at least, they should go better. The other femmes will help her get used to earth, and she can learn from their example...'

I flicked my medical scan sensors over, scanning the femme-ling. A few systems were a little over-warm. I checked and then broadened the scan settings. There, I picked up some readings on her emotion overflow. Sorrow, frustration, confusion, resentment, fear, pain, pain, pain, anxiety… I couldn't let this go on, not as Prime, I couldn't. I couldn't leave her sad and upset; I had to comfort her and make her see that everything would be alright. I stopped short in the road.

Ironhide slammed into my rear bumper. The pathetic little sedan swerved but crashed into Ironhide's rear bumper and rolled over. Ratchet screeched to a halt, and Prowl measured three-fourths of an inch of space between their respective bumpers.

"Nice driving, Prime!" Ironhide commented as he twitched the dent out of his grill.

"Ironhide, go back up the road and make sure no vehicles come down this way. Ratchet, you go ahead and make sure no vehicles come up this way."

They turned and drove off.

"Transform." I told the remaining two as I transformed myself. Prowl stood up and locked his hands behind his back. The little sedan transformed slowly.


	4. Chapter 4, Making it Through

Alright, according to _Transformers, Revenge of the Fallen: the Movie Universe_, by Simon Furman (New York: DK Publishing, 2009) Optimus Prime is 28 feet tall, Ironhide is 25 feet tall, and Ratchet is about 20 feet tall. I think Ratchet would be taller. Anyhow. And _lovely_ Starscream (Pride of the Decepticons! *snort*) is 31 feet tall. I'll have the other Seekers be a little smaller.

Barricade is 16.3 feet tall, so I will put Prowl at about 16.7 feet tall.

And I'll put Soundwave at about, 36 or so feet tall. –Unless anyone knows better.

Bumblebee is 16.2 feet tall. Aurion is a little smaller than he, so I'll say she's between 14 and 15 feet tall.

Oh, and apparently there was a Bot named Chromia in the movie, but I'm using the G1 Chromia. –she's light blue and her alt-mode is a car of some sort.

Thank-you for all the Favorite Story's, Story Alert's, and nice reviews. :)

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Chapter 4

**Making it Through and Arriving at Base**

Aurion-Blaze felt completely miserable. As she looked up at the Autobot leader, she was sure she was going to be even more miserable. She glanced at Prowl. Prowl was terribly impassive, looking like a statue. Prime beckoned Aurion over and she shuddered. Hugging herself, she approached him.

Prime crouched down to be closer to her little height. "What is wrong?" he asked, sounding gentle and patient. He knew what was wrong, but he needed to coax her to talk.

"Nothing…"

He shook his head. "That is a lie." He said; she flinched despite his soft tone. "I only want to hear the truth. What is wrong, little one? –we need to talk it out."

"I… don't want to talk about it." She said, trembling a little as her systems threatened to overload.

"You are upset, feeling pain and frustration, feeling confused and hurt, aren't you?"

She nodded, wondering what the Decepticons would have done with her.

"Aurion, what do you want the most at this moment?" He already knew the answer, but it would at least get her to talk with him. Hopefully.

"A tolerable alt-form." She said, pressing a hand over one optic as she hung her head. Prime felt his spark shudder with agony over the thought of the little femme crying.

"I wish very much that I could solve that problem for you right now, little one." Prime said softly. "I'm sorry, but I cannot. You will be able to choose any alt-mode within reason once we reach base though. That's good, right?"

She nodded, bringing her hand down, and Prime was relieved that she was no longer shaking.

What do you want the second most?" he asked.

"Comfort."

"I will tell you this then. Everything will be alright in the end. That alt-mode is ugly, I cannot argue with you there, but nobot else will see it except for the Aerialbot, and he won't tell. Prowl won't tell, nor will Ironhide or Ratchet. And I promise I won't tell. Does that help?"

She nodded.

"I'm sorry we've had to rush, but with the Decepticon's about and you being so new, I don't want to risk your safety." He paused for her to consider this. "All I do is for your best interest. Can you understand that?"

She nodded again.

"Do _you_ think you'll be alright?" As he asked, he hoped she would say something this time instead of nodding.

She lifted her head to look up at him, looking deep into his optics. Here at so close a proximity, she could see how his kindness shown through the blue glow. She could tell that his face was stern from fighting and leading for many years and from losing comrades he desperately wanted to save. She could also feel the energy, the Prime power that flowed through him. He pushed on to defend her; the road blocks he put up were to protect her.

"I think so." She said, a new confidence starting to grow in her tone.

"I think so, too." He reached out and put a hand on her shoulder. "Just 'hang in there', little one. It will be easier for you to adjust once we get back to the Base. I… -Prowl, are you picking up any Decepticon signatures?" he asked suddenly.

Prowl shook his head. "No. Wait- I just detected that non-reading we picked up before this evening's attack."

"I'm picking up the same thing," Prime rose as Ironhide and Ratchet came tearing back.

"Prime, we're sensing something Decepticon!" Ratchet reported sharply.

"I wish the Cons would quit creating new cloaking-devices every single time we adapt to their present ones!" Ironhide growled.

"I think there is only one 'Con." Prowl said, straining his scanning systems. "Maybe… not."

"Shall we call him out?" Ironhide asked, flipping out his cannon in readiness.

"No." Prime negated.

"But-!"

"No."

Ironhide huffed in discontent, and then he caught the little femme looking at him. He dropped his head, mentally berating himself for setting a bad example. "I am sorry, Prime. I should not speak thus."

"Forgiven, old friend. Transform, all; let's get out of here."

Little Aurion was the last to transform, and when she did, the Autobots heard a choking splutter from Prowl. They switched their scanners around and looked over and understood instantly.

Aurion had taken Prowl's alt-mode but had shortened it since she was smaller. Then she'd copied Ratchet's forward ramming bars, and Ironhide's blue emergency lights. And she had Optimus Prime's paint job.

"R-roll out," Prime said, unable to keep laughter from rumbling through his vocal processors. Aurion revved her engine, relieved that he had laughed instead of telling her no again.

::I sincerely hope she doesn't think she can keep that alt-mode on base…::Ratchet sent to the three mechs.

::We'll just have to get the femmes to help her find one that she simply can't resist:: Prime

::Yes. I'm sure there is something way more attractive than those funky ramming bars.:: Ironhide

::Be nice:: Prime

::I'm sure she only wanted to be prepared in case someone made a sudden stop in front of her:: Ratchet

::Ha. Ha.:: Ironhide

"Do all roads have speed restrictions?" Aurion asked, completely oblivious to the intercom banter.

"Yes, they do." Prowl answered, "Many roads have different restrictions. However, there are race tracks, which do not have a speed limit."

"Zoom…!" She said with zeal.

Major William Lennox's eyes widened in surprise when the five Autobots finally pulled up the site and transformed. The little femme looked over her shoulder at one of her door-wings. She flexed her wings up then down and smiled the effect the flame decal had on them.

"Will, this is Autobot femme designation Aurion-Blaze. Aurion," she turned towards Prime as soon as he said her name, "this is one of our human allies, Major William Lennox." Prime directed her attention towards the human, and she turned again. "Major is his title. You may address him as Major Lennox."

Aurion stared at the human. She then moved closer and crouched down to visually examine him more thoroughly.

"Pleased to meet you, Aurion." Lennox said. She jumped back in surprise, lost her balance, and fell on her behind. Her optics flickered in astonishment. Lennox tried to keep a straight face. "Welcome to earth." He said.

"Thank-you…" she replied, still dazed and still staring at him.

Silverbolt transformed, rising to his great height. Aurion scrambled up and ran to hide behind Ironhide. "I am Aerialbot, designation Silverbolt." He said, "Welcome. There's a lot to learn about earth and its customs, but most of us like it pretty well. You'll probably like it, too."

"Thank-you. I already like the bird song and there seem to be many interesting things waiting to be studied." She answered, reflecting his courteous tone politely and peeking out from behind Ironhide. Ironhide touched her head briefly in encouragement.

The Aerialbot transformed back into a carrier jet and opened the ramp doors. They boarded, and he took off. Aurion-Blaze transformed carefully, not wanting to stay in that odd-looking shape. After a few moments, she slipped into deep recharge.

Ratchet made a medical sweep of her and added it to his files.

Prime briefed Lennox on all the happenings of the evening.

Lennox whistled when Prime was through. "This is going to be an adventure until she learns the lines." He said, shaking his head, thinking of the new recruits he'd dealt with over the years.

"Very true."

The flight went smoothly, and they touched down back on the NEST Base.

"Aurion, we're here." Prime said, nudging her with his bumper. "Aurion-Blaze. Ah… she's completely out, poor little one." He transformed, crouching down, and lifted her out of the Aerialbot. He cradled the little Bot in his arms as he would a sparkling.

"Thank-you for the ride." Prime said to the Aerialbot.

"Always welcome," Silverbolt replied before taxiing away.

Elita-One and Chromia were waiting at the landing site.

"Is she alright?" the Femme Commander asked as she and Chromia came over.

"She's in recharge, tired, and low on Energon." Prime answered, glancing from the little femme-ling to his beloved. "And we had a bit of an adventure."

"So I see by the scorch-marks on your armor." She said, holding back to keep from touching his shoulder. "She looks like she had it a little rough, too," she noted softly.

"I'll tell you everything –almost everything- later; we must first find quarters for her." They had been expecting a mech and had designated quarters for such. That wouldn't do now.

"We can take her in," Ironhide said. Prime looked over at his weapons specialist. The warrior mech had his arms wrapped around Chromia, and her arms were around his neck, her weight only on one foot. He'd lifted his head from her shoulder just a little to speak.

"I'm not sure if they missed each other," Elita said, raising an optic-ridge mock doubt.

Prime shook his head. "Nor am I. Ah, Ironhide,"

Chromia let go, but Ironhide kept one arm around her, hugging her lightly to his side. "Yes?"

"Are you sure you want to take on this little challenge? Tomorrow's going to be a highly interesting day, and she may be difficult when she comes out of recharge."

"I think we can handle it." Ironhide said.

Chromia nodded. "We've both been guardians before, you know."

"You were dealing with little mech-lings those times, and the one femme-ling was an older, more mature femme than this one." Ratchet said. "This femme-ling's prim and spoiled."

"I still agree with Ironhide." Chromia replied. "What's your input, Prowl?" She asked, deciding to temper Ratchet's bias against Prowl's strict logic for the fun of it.

Prowl looked up from his data-pad. "I noticed a slight guardian-ward bond already beginning to form between Ironhide and Aurion-Blaze." He stated. The two femmes looked at him with a little surprise. "Ironhide has a very strong guardian instinct, and she ran to him when the Aerialbot's height frightened her." He explained.

"Alright, Ironhide and Chromia," Prime said, settling the matter. "She may be under your guardianship until further notice."

Ironhide went over, and Prime put the little femme-ling into his arms. Ironhide lifted her to his shoulder so he could carry her with one arm. "Poor little thing," he murmured as the movements never disturbed her. "I think she'll be out for some time."

"I think so, too." Prime said, touching the little Bot's head gently. "Good-night, all. You handled yourselves and this adventure admirably. We will meet for discussion some time tomorrow. Good work, and thank-you. May you recharge well."

"Don't forget to turn in your reports." Prowled added.

_To be Continued…_


	5. Chapter 5, Reflections, Chromia, Ratchet

Chapter 5

**Reflections, Chromia, and Ratchet**

Aurion-Blaze came out of recharge and felt a swift bolt of panic run through her. Rolling over to look around, she found herself falling for a brief second. Then she hit the floor with a thud.

"Ouch!"

She sat upright and looked around. She was in a pleasant room that had obviously been created for Transformers to live in. And she'd fallen off a couch.

She was on The NEST Base, the Autobots' base, she remembered. She rubbed her shoulder and replayed last-night's events… the landing, which had been her first, the meeting, which was a little too much to process at the moment, the attack, the bird, the Auroras, the name, -Prime himself had put for the effort to help her find a name!-the alt-mode, the drive, the talk, the human, and a hundred other things. It was a lot to process. It was overwhelming.

She sighed and willed herself to calm down. She would be alright. Prime was gentle and seemed to be understanding even if he was firm. He wouldn't have been able to command Bots and win against Decepticons if he hadn't been firm. Ratchet… Ratchet seemed to be rather cross, but he wasn't mean. She had studied a few medical courses; she knew took a certain amount of toughness to get through that job. And a battle Medic? She decided he could be as cross as he wanted to if he went through all that. Prowl was formal and technical; it would be interesting to learn from him. Ironhide half-scared her by being so big; he was a little shorter than Prime, but wider and thicker –probably heavier, too, from the way he shook the ground when he walked- But he made her feel safe. And he was protective. Did he actually think she was going to try to ingest a rock?

"I wasn't going to." She said aloud, shaking her head. "Although, a little sparkling would have… maybe that's what he was thinking." She surveyed the room some more, comparing her size to the size of the furniture. "I _am_ awfully small."

She looked over her wings. She'd always thought they were pretty –she wasn't vain about them, just pleased with her creators' choice-, but the blazing decal was resplendent. She wanted different colors, of course, but she would like to keep the flames.

*Energon levels: low*

"And now I need fuel…"

"I hope I've not been left…" She rose and walked around a little. Now what was she to do? There was a door, but what lay beyond it? And would they be mad if she left this room? She could always fall into stasis if she didn't get refueled, and they would bring her back online. Right? She wasn't sure. She went and looked at the door. Her guardian had been furious the one time she'd left the haven without asking because it had been dangerous outside. She hesitated, debating. Prime wanted her to be safe. Was it dangerous outside here as well?

The door slid open; Aurion jumped back. A very graceful, light blue femme was at the door. She smiled when she saw Aurion. "Well! Good morning," She asked.

"Good morning," Aurion parroted, feeling uncertain, and feeling a little like a scrap-heap compared to this sky-colored beauty. She endeavored to not look down at her rather mech-ish blue and red armor.

"I'm Chromia, Ironhide's spark-mate." The beauty said with a friendly, gentle tone, "You're my care for right now."

"I'm Aurion-Blaze."

Chromia smiled as the femme-ling said her name with wonder. "An excellent name,"

"Prime himself came up with it." Aurion said, very shy and lost, not knowing where to go.

"He's a wonderful Bot." Chromia replied, but she was more concerned with the little one's well-being than with praising Prime's qualities at the moment. "Did you recharge well?"

Aurion nodded, "Yes. I don't know how I got here though." she admitted as she went back to the couch. It was made for large Transformers, not ones her size; getting onto it was a bit difficult. She scooted around a little and finally got up, dangling her feet over the edge. She felt better on it; it was like a little fort, a base.

"Well, you wouldn't come out of recharge once the Bots landed on base, so Ironhide carried you over his shoulder to these quarters, our quarters."

"Oh, oh; he must really think I am a sparkling." Auri clapped a hand over her optics.

"No… not quite." Chromia said, coming over. Auri brought her hand down to look at the other femme. She was so pretty.

Chromia hesitated for a moment, and then moved to sit on the couch, close enough to touch. "It has been established that you'll need a guardian though."

Aurion didn't say anything. Chromia could only see a solemn profile.

"How do you feel about that?" Chromia asked after a moment, afraid that the silence was negative. What if the little femme had been independent on her home-planet and resented this news?

"I… having a guardian is fine with me." Aurion said, turning her face towards the other femme, looking a little timid, "I… d-don't like being left by myself." She admitted.

"Oh, little bright-spark, I am so sorry that I wasn't here when you awoke." Chromia exclaimed softly, "I was only gone for five minutes; I never meant for you to be alone." She wanted to sweep the little Bot into her arms and hug her close. The poor baby must have thought she'd been abandoned when she came out of recharge. "You won't have to worry about being left alone here." she promised.

Aurion smiled shyly.

"There will always be Autobots here for you." Chromia assured. She tilted her head, considering the little femme, "I think you need some Energon, am I right?"

"Yes."

Chromia went and opened a wall-panel cabinet and pulled out some small Energon cubes. "Here's some breakfast for you," she said, offering one.

"Much needed!" Aurion took a cube eagerly and drained it halfway before she stopped. "Oh… that wasn't very good manners."

Chromia shrugged and grinned, "You think I've never seen a Transformer guzzle down half a cube of Energon without stopping, eh? I do live with Ironhide, you know." She teased and offered her a cloth. "He'll drain a whole cube that size without stopping once."

Aurion giggled and wiped her mouth. "But I'm a little femme, not a great giant warrior. I should have better manners." She said then dipped her head to drink some more.

Chromia considered mentioning the word 'thank-you' but decided to overlook it in case the femme-ling had only forgotten out of hunger. She was a sweet and eager little youngling; it would be fun having her to look after.

"Alright. Well, Elita-One will be coming by, and then we'll help you find a new alt-mode. And I think Ironhide will be bringing new armor for you."

"That's nice of both of them." Auri replied enthusiastically, although she had no clue who Elita-One was.

"Oh…" Chromia went to the door, opening it. "Hi, Ratchet. Come on in."

Ratchet entered, and Aurion-Blaze smiled to see him again. "Hello," she said, reminding herself to watch her behavior around him and to be tolerant of his crossness since he'd had a rough life.

"Hello. I really don't usually come to private quarters to give medical exams," Ratchet explained, "But Prime requested it since he didn't know when you'd be getting you new armor and alt-mode.

"Medical exam… of me?" Aurion asked, looking around, slightly confused.

"Yes, _you_." He looked over at Chromia, "Didn't Chromia tell you?"

"Nope." Chromia said, suddenly looking sheepish, "I automatically don't tell anybot when the medic is coming." Aurion looked puzzled, and Chromia explained, "Ironhide doesn't like medic calls."

Aurion nodded, remembering how, after the Seeker attack, Ironhide had claimed to be fine, 'mostly.'

An hour later, Aurion was beginning to guess why Ironhide didn't like medical exams. They were long and boring and consisted mainly of Ratchet gathering information, hushing her, prodding, ordering her to stay still, scanning, and frowning.

"Tedious." Aurion said, out of the blue.

"What?" Ratchet asked. Chromia, sitting at the table looked away to hide the up-curve of her mouth.

"I found a new word." Aurion answered vaguely.

"Well, that's done." Ratchet said, paying no mind, returning his instruments back to sub-space.

"Will I live?" she asked, half teasing him. He didn't buy it.

"Yes." He said quite seriously. "There are a few upgrades you should come in to Med-Bay for. And I've reactivated several of your systems, and they should function more smoothly now. And, your intercom is now functioning; you may begin using it when you like."

::Thank-you:: she sent

::You're welcome:: Ratchet sent back. "But," he said aloud, "Whenever it is possible to speak out loud, do so."

"Got it."

"That phrase, 'got it,' is too casual for you to use towards me." He corrected the femme-ling immediately. She might have been spoiled wherever she came from, but he was going to put his foot down on it.

"Oh, I'm sorry! I did not know." Her optics were wide with surprised innocence. How was she to know?

Chromia gave the Medic a sharp protective look that stabbed at his spark. Her femme guardian protocols were reactivating quickly.

"It's alright." Ratchet amended gruffly. "I understand that you're still learning." He said, reminding himself of Prime's words of last night.

She smiled. "Thank-you." She said softly, remembering that he told her to say "thank-you" to him last time he'd done something for her.

"I'll be going now." He said and wished Chromia well before exiting.

"Any other surprise visitors?" Aurion wondered.

"No." Chromia answered. "And sorry about not telling you." She smiled and cocked her head, "I never tell Ironhide, so I just didn't think about it."

Aurion, remembering how the medic had tackled Ironhide and knocked him in the mud, giggled at the thought of Ratchet going after him with his medical tools.

Chromia smiled, wondering how much the little femme knew about Ironhide from their trip home. Then Elita contacted her on the intercom.

"Intercom message from Elita-One," Chromia said to Aurion, relaying the message, "She'll be here in a couple minutes."

_To Be Continued… _


	6. Chapter 6, Elita and New Armor

Wow! This story has had 300 visitors as of February 17th 2011! Thanks everybody! XD I love it! I love reviews, too!

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Chapter 6

**Elita and New Armor**

"Elita-One is the femme Commander, and she's Optimus Prime's spark-mate."Chromia explained as she put away a half empty Energon cube and pushed a stool under the table.

"Oh…" Aurion said slowly and smiled. But of course Prime would have a commander for a spark-mate.

"And she's my best friend, next to Ironhide. And I'm her second in command."

Chromia looked around the room, checking it. Aurion looked around, wondering why Chromia did it.

"Gotta be tidy," Chromia said, winking.

The door alert twittered, and Chromia went over to answer it.

Elita-One entered. She looked very poised and her pink armoring was stunning. Aurion now felt like a complete and utter scrap-heap. She also felt silly, knowing that she had Prime's paint job. She wanted her own pretty, pink coloring back.

"Hello, Chromia. How is our newcomer?" she had a slightly deeper voice than Chromia, and it had a regal tone. Aurion considered running to hide under the table as an alternative to facing the femme commander.

"She's fine and dandy." Chromia replied happily, indicating Aurion who was now sitting stiffly on the couch. "Ratchet gave her a pretty thorough exam and couldn't find anything to gripe about other than her use of 'got it'."

"Excellent." Elita smiled warmly at Aurion. "Hello, Aurion-Blaze; I'm Elita-One, Femme Commander."

"I am honored, Commander." Aurion said. The commander smiled, her facial features softening.

"You may call me Elita," she offered, "Unless we're doing something official."

"Okay…" Aurion said uncertainly.

::Wow, Elita, you scared her by just walking into the room!:: Chromia sent to her friend.

::She is not the first femme I've intimidated,:: Elita replied, smiling as she sent a fond memory of their first meeting over the channel.

"Prime sent me over help you and 'Mia find an alt-mode more pleasing to you." Elita said to Aurion, "And to make sure you chose a different paint-job." She added with a wink, and her optics sparkled with a little mischief then. Aurion didn't feel quite so intimidated by her once she saw this sparkle. This commander might be fun.

"He doesn't like the blue and red flame theme, eh?" Chromia acted surprised.

Elita chuckled. "More like, he's afraid it will look better on her than on him, and he'll get teased about it. And between Ratchet's ramming bars, and Prowl's shape, I think there'd be a riot on our hands if she went out in plain sight."

"Oh, dear…" Aurion murmured.

"Oh, no. It's perfectly fine, and all in fun." Elita comforted, reaching out patting her on the shoulder. "But let's do find you a new look."

Elita brought a data-pad out of subspace. "Wait…" she set the data-pad away, and flipped out an armor box. "Ironhide sent this for you, Auri." She handed the box to the little femme.

Aurion took the box thoughtfully. The femme commander had called her 'Auri,' giving her a nick-name. She liked that. It was less formal. Then she noticed that the two older femmes, now sitting at the table, were watching her.

"Oh….!" She sat down on the floor, unlatched the box, and took out the armoring. It was a smooth, dull gray, just waiting for color programming. Auri hurriedly shucked the old 'Con armor off her arms and put the new armor in place. She grinned, happy with it even in its uncolored state. She examined the rest of the armor that was in the box. It would go over all her light preliminary armoring. She began switching it out for the old Con armoring that had Prime's coloring on it, chirping happily without thinking about it.

Chromia and Elita shared a smile. New armor was always great fun. And Ironhide was one of the best of the armor-forgers on earth.

"How is it fitting?" Elita asked. It looked like it was fitting well.

"It fits perfectly. Oh, and it's pretty!" Auri discovered the mirror wall and posed before it, this way and that.

"Ironhide knows all about what we want in armoring." Chromia said, looking pleased. "It suits you very well, femme-ling"

"I'm glad. Now what do I get to do?" Auri's optics were sparkling with extra brightness with enjoyment.

"You could say 'thank-you' when you are complemented." Elita suggested.

Auri cocked her head, considering this new custom. Apparently Ratchet wasn't the only one who wanted that phrase said. "Thank-you."

"You're welcome." Chromia said encouragingly.

"I guess I should have said thank-you for the Energon and the armor, too…?" Auri asked, rubbing her head as she sorted this out.

"Yes," Elita answered. She met Chromia's optics a look of wonder in her own.

::Does she not know to say thank-you?:: Elita asked with pure amazement, no censure.

::I'm starting to wonder that myself. She did say it to Ratchet. Maybe she doesn't fully recognize it in English yet?:: Chromia.

"I'm sorry." Auri said, "Thank-you for the Energon, Chromia; it was particularly good. And, thank-you for bringing this armor for me, Elita-One."

"You are welcome, little one." Elita answered. "Now, would you like to find a new alt-form?"

"Oh, yes!" Auri exclaimed. Then she hesitated, wondering if there was something more she ought to say. "That would be cool?" she made an attempt.

Elita smiled, "I think you're looking for the phrase, 'yes, please.'"

"Yeah! That's it. Yes, please. –Thank-you."

"There you go!" Elita encouraged. She flipped the data-pad on and brought up several thousand images.

"That many to choose from…?" Auri said in astonishment as she climbed up one of the stools.

"I've already excluded several thousand very ugly ones." Elita replied, smiling wryly, "That narrowed it down a little."

"Wow-!"

"This'll be fun!" Chromia said with anticipation, hitching her heels on the rung of her stool and leaning forward.

The three femmes began to sort and discuss the various car models. Chromia and Elita often laughed and teased each other as best friends did, including Auri in their fun, and Auri began to feel like she belonged.

"This vehicle-mode is terrible…"

"But, it would be perfect in lime green!" Auri shook her head in horror as Chromia snickered. Auri had made it clear early on that she had a great dislike for lime green, and the model was terribly boxy, and not at all like what she wanted. She wanted something stylish like Chromia and Elita had. She wanted to be like them. She had had very few close friends, almost none, in fact, but she could feel a friendship bond growing between these femmes and herself.

"I think it's safe to exclude all models from before 1940…" Elita mused.

"Uh-huh!" Chromia replied. "And these tail-finned classics from the 1950's, too. Think so, little one?"

Auri smiled. "I think so!" And she was pretty certain that she was going to have best friends on this planet, too.


	7. Chapter 7, Altmodes and Mechs

Hi, readers! I hope you all are enjoying this; I sure am having writing it! I'd love to know what your favorite line, or quote, or thing about the story is. Thanks to my reviewers for feedback and encouragement (and a whole lot of smiles)! XD XD XD

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Chapter 7

**Altmodes, Vocabulary, and Mechs**

Ironhide tromped into his quarters and stopped short at the sight of the three femmes. He was well-covered with dirt and mud and had both cannons out, still warm from practice. The femmes were all gleaming, trim, prim, and pretty, sitting around the table.

"Hi, My'Hide. Care to join us?" Chromia invited.

"You could find a new alt-mode, too." Auri offered, holding up a holographic image of a curvy, elegant Chevrolet SSR.

"Ah, no. I'd sooner take Ratchet's alt-mode than that one." He rumbled, shaking his head with amusement.

"That bad, eh? Wow!" She grinned and snapped the image off.

Ironhide smiled because Chromia often put 'eh' in her questions. "Nice armor." He told her, pleased with how it had turned out.

"Thanks. Some grouchy warrior sent it to me; he's got really good taste for a war machine." Auri replied cheerfully. Chromia's face heated up as she realized that the little femme was copying her manner. It was acceptable for a closely bonded pair that knew when the other was teasing, but not acceptable for a little protégée addressing one of her elders. 'Yikes! You're out of practice! Some example you've set!' Chromia reproached herself.

"I'm certain that, as a spark-mated mech, he understands that femmes want their armor to be 'pretty' as well as functional." Ironhide replied, taking it in stride. Auri smiled, pleased. He smiled back, glad she had warmed up to him, -lost her great fear- but at the same time, he didn't want her learning to be disrespectful. "I'm also certain that said mech wouldn't be overly happy with you if he ever caught you being so flippant towards him." he added, but he made sure that his tone wasn't harsh.

"Oh! Ironhide! I never meant to be flippant!" She gasped. "I-… What's flippant?"

His optics twinkled. "Sassy, smart-aleck. Look it up."

She did as he said, and then she shook her head emphatically. "I _never_ meant to be flippant!"

"I didn't think you meant to." He answered. "You've been hanging out with Chromia, and she's inclined to flirt with me constantly and talk about me like I'm her new spark-love."

"I think I see that now…" Auri said. "I really am sorry, Ironhide. I do hold you in very high esteem."

"Don't fret, little one. You catch on quickly, and I have the great confidence in you." He was going to pat her shoulder, but considering the muddiness of his hands, he decided he'd better not.

"What are you up to?" Chromia asked her mate once she saw that the matter was settled. "You really ought to be in the wash, not here tracking dirt in on a femme party."

"I had no idea a femme party was being held." Ironhide said, shaking his head. "I merely came to impress you with the fact that I took on both Prime and Ultra Magnus in a round of weapons practice and didn't fare too badly."

"I'm duly impressed." Chromia said, eyeing him, "Now, go wash."

"That was only the first part of my plan. The second part was to rub some of this dirt on you..."

Chromia grinned but pushed his hand away as he reached to smudge her face. Auri looked perplexed. "Sorry," Chromia told Ironhide, "But work comes first; I must help Auri and Elita find a new alt-mode for Auri."

"I can wait." Ironhide pulled Chromia from her seat and sat down, placing her on his lap. Chromia snuggled against her mech with contentment, but Auri looked askance at the two of them.

The femmes continued to go through the alt-mode prospects.

"I kind of like this one, but it's a cheaper model."

"_We_ like expensive?"

"We certainly do."

"Expensive cars usually look nicer."

"True."

"Oh… here. You will love this one… in Lime green."

The femmes giggled again.

"Oh…!"

"What do you think of that one, Auri?"

"Hmmm… maybe… well… no."

"That's good. I had a bad experience with a car of that model once."

"Yes… she can't tell though, since there were others involved." Chromia said with a wink.

"Aw. Whoa! What were the organisms thinking when they made this one?"

"I have no idea!"

"Oh, here's a nice one, but everybody will think of a certain liaison when they see it."

"Wasn't that they one they painted chartreuse and polka-dotted pink after he made some comment about our paint expenditures?"

"Yes, I'm afraid so."

"Femmes." Ironhide broke in after he'd been listening to them for a good hour, no exaggeration. He was about fed up with their tactics. It frustrated him that they were taking side trips and playing around when Auri needed to be given a tour of the base and started on some of her studies.

"Oh, you're still here, Ironhide?" Elita asked, widening her optics is false surprise.

"He is." Chromia said, turning and smiling up at him.

"You would perhaps find an alt-mode more quickly if you stopped sidetracking yourselves with stories and jests." he advised.

Auri started to ponder this, but Chromia and Elita smiled. "Understand this," Chromia said. "We're not merely looking for an alt-mode, Ironhide; we're bonding and getting to know each other."

"Oh… I see." Ironhide rested his chin on Chromia's shoulder for a moment. That made perfect sense. They did need to bond and forge trusts and relationships.

"And I've known you for millennia, and you don't need a new alt-mode; you just need to wash your old one."

He gave her a smile as he nodded. He knew the only way he would be able to stay and hold her was if he didn't make a fuss or try to dominate the femmes. And she definitely had a point about bonding. He contented himself with simply being with her and the warmth of her body against his.

"What about this one?" Auri asked.

"No." Ironhide said. Auri looked confused, if not a little annoyed. He explained, "We had a really … what's a nice word… asinine,"

"That is not a very nice word." Elita replied.

"Comparatively." Ironhide explained, "… asinine gov-"

"Seriously, Ironhide," Elita persisted, her voice taking on its commander tone, "We have someone learning new words here. Is that what you want to instill in her processors?"

"It's not a bad word. Would you rather I use 'moronic'?"

Auri giggled. Elita ground a gear. Ironhide reconsidered.

"Don't use either of those words, Auri," Ironhide said, "They're battle mech vocabulary, not for young femmes. Okay?" she nodded quickly, and he went on. "Anyhow, this… -afore-described- government liaison had a car exactly like that one. I'm sure at least half of the 'Bots will remember it with negative feelings."

"Oh…"

"Tough luck, bright-spark. Do you like this one?" Chromia asked.

"Hmmm…. Not particularly. A little too boxy. This one looks too much like a mech's alt-mode, and this one looks like a Decepticon. And this one…"

The door alert twittered. Chromia shook her head, but Elita smiled.

Chromia leaned forward to whisper quickly to Auri, "Observe how Elita responds to Prime; she shows an excellent example of how to address him." Then she rose and went to the door.

"Hi, Optimus." She said,

"Hello," He replied. "I came to see Elita."

"Here I am, Prime; what do you want?" Elita asked. Optimus saw the group at the table, Auri in the midst, and wished he'd not been so quick to state his purpose. He needed to socialize with the newest Bot and rushing in on the first day wasn't the way to do it. He decided to slow down a little. Make a little conversation.

"I want universal peace." Optimus answered. He flickered an optic at Elita with a smile as he leaned his arms on the table, signaling that he wanted to converse a little. She missed it.

"I'm still working on that…" She said, tipping her head down a little as she smiled. "Is there anything else I can do for you in the mean time?"

So, that didn't sidetrack anyone; he had to state the point of his visit then. "You can tell me if you would like to come with me on the two o'clock patrol."

"I would love to, but we haven't found a new alt-mode for Auri, and she needs to go on a tour of the base."

"They could have been done hours ago - AIGH!" Ironhide broke off, "Chromia!"

Auri looked concerned.

"He doesn't like our technique when it comes to searching out alt-modes." Chromia said, smiling serenely.

"Ah…" Optimus said, seeing that Ironhide was wanting Chromia's attention. He wasn't going to get involved. Here was the perfect time to get out of strictly business topics. He looked over at his femme and Auri and found that Auri's attention was riveted between him and Elita. "How are you this day?" he asked Auri, tilting his head.

"I … How ought I answer that?" Auri copied Elita's tone and manner in addressing Prime almost exactly.

He was slightly baffled by this mimicry, but he smiled at her lack of hesitancy when it came to asking questions. "Well, you would usually give your state of being. For example: 'I'm a little tired, but I've had a good day so far.' Or: "'I'm feeling awesome! This day has been a blast!' If I asked Ironhide, he might say, ''mm Good. I won two rounds of weapons practice.' You can give longer answers, too. Does that make sense?"

Auri nodded. "Yes. So… may we try again?"

"By all means." He was eager to cheer on his little newcomer, "How are you this day?"

"I'm feeling a little overwhelmed with everything, but Elita and Chromia have made me feel like I belong."

Optimus reached out and rubbed her shoulder in encouragement, feeling compassion for the little youngling. Her optics half-dimmed as she completely relaxed under his touch. He smiled within, realizing that he had just found a key. Some bots loved praise, some loved quality time, others loved favors done, and others loved touch. Most Bots liked all those things more or less, but knowing which Bots like which one in particular was one of the keys to working well with them and making them happy. Do favors for Prowl. Spend time with Elita. Praise Ironhide. Rub Bumblebee on the shoulder. Pat Ratchet on the arm and tell him "Well done." Praise the twins. Once he had figured that out, their relationships strengthened. A rub on the shoulder would unlock Auri. "I hope everybot will make you feel like you belong." Optimus said sincerely. "And… well, I was overwhelmed myself when I came earth."

"_You?_" she was astonished.

He nodded, adding half-wryly, "The title 'Prime' does not mean 'invincible and imperturbable.'"

"Im-per-tur-ba-bull…" she echoed slowly, her optics widening with wonder at such a word.

"You like that word?"

She nodded, speechless with awe.

"'Imperturbability' is even better."

She grinned.

"Indisputably," Ironhide said, dryly, "Conversing in sesquipednials will impede your progress in finding a suitable alt-mode."

Auri giggled. Optimus chuckled.

"Are they not almost done though?" he asked.

"Give them two more days." Ironhide said, holding Chromia's hands to keep her from smacking him.

"I believe we could have one in roughly fifteen minutes if we focused." Elita answered.

Optimus took a second to analyze the situation. "Auri does need to have a tour of the base, meet a few other 'Bots, and get a start on learning some of the rules today. Might I help you wrap it up, and you femmes can bond some more, later?"

"That would work." Elita said. "Auri?'

"Yes. That would work." Auri answered. She liked the idea of seeing new things.

"Alright." Optimus said. "Ironhide, please refrain from any more comments, unless asked." He looked at the data-pad and tapped it to arrange the cars by certain makes. "You've excluded these models… so I believe we can safely exclude this line as well. Skim them, Auri; see if there is one that really catches you optics."

She skimmed them. "None catch my optics." She replied. "Well, except that one, but in a bad way."

"That one is rather ugly… um-" he realized that it looked an awful lot like the first vehicular mode she'd gotten stuck with, "Moving on. Do you like this style very much?"

"No, not much."

He scanned the years, and sorted the cars by year. "You've turned down many cars from these three years; these are the ones that are left. Are there any that are particularly pleasing?"

"That one is, but the rest are not."

"I'll save that one then. I see you've excluded tail-fins; you don't want tail-fins?"

"No-!" she started to giggle.

The Bots were attentive as Optimus sorted out whole groups of cars according to Auri's responses.

Chromia sighed as the door alert twittered. "I think, maybe, we should move to a hanger and let 'Bots use our quarters for meetings." She said, rising and going to the door.

Prowl came in, looking professional and doubtful at the same time.

"Hi, Prowl. Have you come to help us find an alt-mode for Auri?"

Prowl gave her a blank stare for a second before answering. "That was not my original intention, but I can if it is necessary." He eyed the gathered 'Bots as he followed Chromia to the table.

"Greetings, Prowl." Auri said, noting that his door-wings had been repaired and repainted perfectly.

"Greetings, Auri." Prowl replied, bowing ever so slightly. "Your day has gone well so far, I trust?"

She looked at Chromia, thinking, uncertain. She shrugged, and Ironhide winced. "I suppose it's gone well."

"Prowl doesn't like contractions, slip-shod answers, or shrugging." Ironhide put in.

"No, he does not." Prowl answered.

"Does he often speak of himself in the third-persssss…. -oops!" Auri caught herself. "I apologize, Prowl; I meant no disrespect." She said.

"Apology accepted. None taken." Prowl said, dipping his head slightly.

"Good catch, Auri." Prime said, knowing how important praise was to encourage good behavior. Auri fairly beamed… though it was a slightly abashed beam. "You are here for something, Prowl?" Prime asked his Second-in-Command.

"Yes, Prime; I am. I came to ask, are you going to take the 2 o'clock patrol? Or shall I take it?"

"Did I not say I would?"

"You did." Prowl said. His processors hummed a little though; it was already 2:01. "When, may I ask?" he said.

"At 2:14 PM. Is that okay with you?" Prime asked, gently implying that Prowl was trying to micro-manage him.

Prowl stiffened. "I was only asking for security's sake."

"It is alright." Prime soothed his officer. "I will be there."

"Thank-you." Prowl turned to leave.

"You sure you don't want to help us?" Chromia asked, teasing.

Prowl faced them and crossed his arms. It took a little while to force teasing through his logic processor.

Auri was holding up a holograph of a small car tentatively, looking at it. She wanted to have her alt-mode so Ironhide could go off with his Chromia, and so Prime could go on patrol with Elita, and the two pairs could be happy, not waiting for her. And she wanted Prowl to not have to worry about his 2 o'clock patrol.

"That car is a Volkswagen Beetle." Prowl answered.

"Hmmm…." She sort of liked it. At least, she liked it better than the other ones she'd seen.

"That is a cute one." Elita said, smiling.

"I like it, but I don't want it for my alt-mode." Auri decided.

"Perhaps you would like an Audi TT." Prowl said, startling all the 'Bots except Auri.

Prime brought up the Audi TT models.

"Oh! YES!" Auri exclaimed, "Yes!"

"Perfect!" Elita said, her optics sparkling. "Excellent suggestion, Prowl!"

"Thank-you."

Auri downloaded the information on the design of her desired alt-mode. "And I need to reload my paint scheme..." she mused to herself.

"You need to thank Prowl, first." Ironhide prompted.

"Oh-! Thank-you, Prowl, for your suggestion; thank-you very much."

"You are welcome." Prowl replied.

Optimus brought up the color program on the data-pad.

"I know exactly what I want." Auri said, smiling. Optimus handed the data-pad to her. She studied it for a moment. "I've got it," she put the data-pad on the table and jumped down from the stool.

"One, two, three… look at me!" she twirled around and transformed into a dazzling little Audi TT. Her primary color was a medium pink, but over that, streaming from her front-bumper, were flames of magenta, orange, and yellow. It could have been garish, but she had carefully chosen the tones and hues in order to make them match perfectly.

Auri transformed back into bi-pedal form, flaunting her bright armor just a little. Her door-wings were resplendent with flames on them.

Chromia applauded her choice, "Woo-Hooo!" And Elita smiled.

"Is it okay, Prime?" Auri asked, dipping her head a little bit.

"Okay?" Optimus echoed, "It's definitely okay." He told her, smiling, glad he could approve it. He noted, too, the flame design that bore a resemblance to his.

"You may want to choose a secondary, less eye-catching paint-job for missions though." Ironhide suggested. Prowl nodded seriously.

"Good suggestion." Auri said, "Would a plain, deep magenta do it?"

"Yes." Ironhide said, smiling. Elita was usually the Bot to say 'good suggestion.'

"Well, Prowl, I can head on out to 2 o'clock patrol now." Optimus announced. "Elita, you are showing Auri around the base?" he asked.

"Oh!" Auri exclaimed, surprised. "I thought she was going to go on patrol with you."

"We can't very well leave you here to sit around by yourself when you could be getting to know the base." Optimus explained.

"But, you wanted her to go with you."

"Auri. I am Prime, but my wants do not come before others' needs or wants. I am here to serve."

"Yes, but…"

"Ah, don't 'but, Prime' me, Auri."

"But, Prime," Prowl said. "You do not have to short change yourself when you could delegate."

"And to whom should I delegate?" Prime asked.

"Me."

"I continually delegate to you, Prowl. I'm taking 2 o'clock patrol to ease your work-load."

"You could ask me, Prime." Prowl said, shaking his head.

::And you would automatically say whatever would be the most helpful to me:: Prime sent over the comm.. He didn't wish to argue with his Second-in-Command in front of a bunch of 'Bots, and especially not in front of Auri.

::Not necessarily. In this instance, I believe it would be highly effective for me to give Auri a tour; I would give her a more serious view of the base, and I could explain rules along the way::

"Alright. Prowl, would you like to give Auri a tour of the base?" Prime asked aloud.

"I would." Prowl answered.

"We'll tell you the interesting things about the base later, bright-spark." Chromia said, patting Auri's shoulder.

"I don't understand…" Auri said, puzzled.

"She is implying that I will bore you with technical details and lists of rules and regulations." Prowl answered.

"That's not very nice of her." Auri said, her mouth turning down a little. Optimus had a sinking feeling that every un-mated mech, -except logical Prowl and hardened old Ratchet- would be melt to the ground at the sight such an adorable pout. "…Especially since you are Second-in-Command."

"It is not undeserved." Prowl stated. "I am well-known for my attention to technical details and lists of rules and regulations."

"That's not boring though. It's important." She was confused at Chromia's dismissal of the subject.

Prowl blinked, astonished. He could hardly believe this. Perhaps taking the new youngling on a tour was not going to such a pain in the processor.

* * *

Hey! I've drawn a picture of Auri and put it on my FanFiction profile as the avatar. It's G1 style, so it's not exactly what she looks like, but close enough. :)

Oh, and guess who Auri's going to meet in the next chapter...! :)


	8. Chapter 8, First Impressions

Hi! Sorry about the delay! (You know how life can be. :) I love the reviews and favs on Fanfic, though!

I've drawn a G1 style picture of Auri with her new look and posted it as my Fanfiction avatar, in case you want to see sort of what she looks like. A picture is worth a thousand words, y'know ;)

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Chapter 8

**First Impressions**

Prowl was feeling almost content; he was, at least, not alarmed. Auri was showing herself to be highly interested in everything that went on at NEST Base. She also showed an eagerness, as well as quickness, to learn. Her questions were many, though not unintelligent. She seemed to be process things very well, and she readily sorted out details and materials.

Prowl had intended to have her download the rules of the base, but she had far too many questions for that to work. He discussed various rules as they walked from place to place.

He'd just finished explaining speed-limits and speeding fines to her. That had taken a long time, not because she was slow or indifferent, but because she wanted to know _thoroughly_ how and why the speed limits worked, their reasons, causes and effects and their enforcement. She was satisfied now.

At least, she wasn't asking any more questions. Or was there another reason? "Did I bore you?" He asked not because it made any difference to him,-it was not really logical- it was irrelevant to ask since he had already acted- but because it was the polite thing to ask.

"Not at all!" She exclaimed, "Oh dear! I didn't mean to give that impression. I was just reprocessing what you'd told me."

"Good." He was satisfied, but she went on.

"It's not boring at all. In fact, I think it sounds preferable to getting blasted at by 'Cons and trying to blast them in return." She commented, giving her door-wings an airy flit.

"I do that as well." He said, not about to let her get any delusions about his line of work. Then a jeep sped by, exceeding the speed limit by 7.9313 miles per hour. He frowned, for he knew that driver well.

"Excuse me a moment. And do not move from that place." Prowl told her as he transformed into his patrol car. He blared his siren once, flashing the lights at the vehicle, and the driver pulled it over.

Auri was immediately fascinated, the light caught her attention first, and then the whole process of enforcing the law intrigued her.

The organism was talking a lot, arguing with Prowl, answering back like it was an equal. Was it an equal? It was rude, anyway. It said 'Autobot' to Prowl like it was a slur.

"That's only a 5 miles per hour difference, Autobot! It not that big of a difference."

"It is, in fact." Prowl replied, never getting perturbed and deciding to leave it at 5 mph for once. "Speeding is a factor in about one-third of all fatal crashes. Even a small increase in speed increases the chances of a crash. I could quote statistics, but I know you do not care to hear them. I will issue the fine."

The organism had more arguments to make; Prowl handled them all with calm politeness. Eventually it accepted the fine and drove away at a slower speed.

Auri heard an almost inaudible grating noise in Prowl's system when he came near, and she detected slight tightening of his mouth. "What's wrong?" she asked him.

"I have stopped that man for speeding four times." He stated as he logged it in his data-pad.

She said the first thing that came to mind. "Hm. I guess fines are not working then."

"I want to suspend his driver's license, but he is too useful to too many people for me to do that." Prowl replied grimly; he had no alternatives.

"But he's breaking laws; he should be effectively punished!" Auri argued, saying 'he' instead of 'it' as she realized that was what Prowl was doing. 'Fatal' meant something took away life. That couldn't be allowed, especially since there were lots of these organisms around. It might smash one with a non-sentient drone.

"The fine system is designed to be effective." Prowl pointed out. "Did I not already explain it to you?"

"You did." She answered, reconsidering the system. A standard fine was enlarged relative to the number of MPHs the person or 'Bot exceeded the limit by. If further infractions occurred, the fine increased relative that number. The Bots had come up with it based on a system from Cybertron. "Still, though, it is obviously not effective." She reasoned.

Prowl faced her, scarcely believing his audio processors. His door-wings had risen a little higher with surprise. No one ever gave a broken monkey-wrench about whether the fine system worked or not.

Auri twisted her mouth to the side. Was she in trouble again? Had she spoken in the wrong way again? Prowl didn't say anything; he just stood and studied her expression. He didn't correct her, though. "It should be made effective." She decided to go on if he wasn't going to stop her. "Those organisms are clearly delicate; something going too fast could damage them, especially since their reflexes are not fast enough to avoid a high-speed collision.

Prowl looked at her with a new perspective. "Is there something you think would be effective?" he asked, ready to take any logical suggestion she might have.

He had caught her off guard. She stared for a second until she realized that her simple act of argumentation had brought her up to a new level of status in Prowl's universe. She squared her shoulders a little, copying his formal stance. "No, Prowl; there is not, but with further processing I may find something." She replied, reflecting his formal manner of speech.

"I welcome any suggestions you may have." He told her.

She nodded once to acknowledge his words. She had learned this motion from watching him and found it just the thing for this moment when she was at a loss for words.

Prowl shifted his optics to something strange that caught his attention. What on Base…? Then realization hit him. "Would you like to meet some of the other Autobots?" he asked.

"Yes." Truthfully, she was a little afraid to, but if Prowl was there, surely nothing too bad would come of it.

"You may go over and say hello." He said, moving his hand to indicate.

Auri followed his gesture and saw _them_ for the first time. They looked rather casual… a little too casual; they were just parked neatly by the curb, not doing anything, looking like they were just waiting for some organism to drive them off like some non-sentient drone would. One was bright yellow. The other was bright red. And then a light blue mech was standing nearby, looking almost like someone had frozen him in place. And a different light blue mech was trying to straighten out and fix a newly crumpled speed-limit sign… most ineffectively.

"Oh..." She said, suddenly realizing that they were all pretending not to being looking at her, except for the frozen one. This was awkward. She knew that mechs looked at femmes, but she'd never been stared at just like this before.

"Go say hello to them." Prowl said, taking out a data-pad to inspect.

"Well, okay." She said, heading towards the mechs after a brief hesitation. Prowl stayed where he was and watched.

"Who says I have no sense of humor?" Prowl murmured to himself.

Auri approached the group. "Hello." She said.

The red car and the yellow car didn't even twitch. The frozen 'Bot warmed up. "Hello…" he said, and then he had no idea what to say next and flickered his optics.

By then, the other light blue mech had straightened up and put the ruined sign behind his back. He seemed to be the only one capable of communication, and he spoke rapidly, "Hello- Are you new to thisbase-? Because Ireally don't remember seeingyou, and I think that if I'd seenyou before I'd rememberyou -that didn't come outright- 'cause if it'd come outright, I wouldn't be here, standing here, feeling silly here because it came out wrong-…"

Auri's optics flickered in astonishment. This Bot was making it ridiculous mess of his sentence structure and fluency. She wanted to laugh at herself for having been afraid. "Indeed, I am new to this base." How did one communicate with this kind of nonsense…? "Do you need help with that speed limit sign?"

"What speedlimitsign? Oh, that speedlimitsign- Actually, no- no-no- I'm really just here to retrieve and replace it, because if brokensigns weren't retrieved and replaced they'd be lying around all over the place and we wouldn't want that…. Would we-?"

"Uh… no..."

"Heh- Yeah-" He hesitated for a second before transforming and bolting off with the speed limit sign sticking out of his window.

Her mouth was open in a small o of wonder as she watched him flee.

"Rather abrupt, I'd say he is."

She turned to look at the remaining blue mech, who had finally spoken. He seemed to be normal now. "Does he have a name?" she asked, indicating the 'Bot who'd just sped off.

"He does, actually. It's 'Blurr,' it seems to fit him." The 'Bot replied smoothly.

"Oh…" well, that made sense.

"I have a name, too, did you know?"

"I supposed you might." Where was _this one_ going now? She thought she heard some self-satisfaction dripping from his lips. "What is it?"

"It 'Mirage.'" He answered in a very debonair tone.

"That's cool." She looked up the word, "Hey… it's got a pretty nifty meaning, too. Doesn't it?"

"It sure does. It fits, too. Because, now you see me… and now," he vanished, "…You don't." she still heard his words.

"NICE! I bet the 'Cons hate that trick!"

She received no answer. She looked around. "Where'd you go?"

"Right here." He appeared just behind her, almost right over her left shoulder. Almost a little too close for comfort.

"Pretty sneaky." She said, looking over at him.

"That's why _I'm _the ultimate Autobot spy. I've snuck into Decepticon territory numerous times and never been seen, nor have I been detected either. I have a very effective cloaking system."

"Coooool." Ego rush going on here! Let him brag to some other femme. Time to lose him. "So, is it true that spies are often shallow and don't form strong relationships with others?"

Something went wrong with the spy's marvelous gears, causing him to choke. "I'd better go see Ratchet about this…"

"Well, okay. I hope it's not too serious." She said sweetly.

"It'll be fine…" He turned away and hurried off.

The two remaining mechs jumped up, transforming simultaneously. "AWESOME!" The yellow one exclaimed pumping a fist.

"Did you do that on purpose?" the red one asked, "That was so COOL!"

"Thanks." She said grinning. "What I said, I had been wondering about, but I did ask him on purpose. He was being a little too egotistical for my tastes."

"Yeah… he was a little sleazy." The red one agreed, "M'rage can be such a snob. Anyway, what is your name?"

"I was going to ask her!"

"My name is Aurion-Blaze. But it's 'Auri' for short." She replied, and they grinned with approval. "What are your names?"

"I'm Sunstreaker." the yellow one replied,

"And I'm Sideswipe. We're twins."

"Cool! Fun!" Auri exclaimed. Twins of all things! "Those were slick alt-modes; do you like to race?"

"Like everything!" Sunstreaker said, grinning, and his twin asked, "Yeah! Do you?"

"I did on Cybertron. This planet is a little different and has a different gravity, and I have a different alt-mode, so I have no clue what it'll be like here."

"It'll be awesome!"

Prowl watched them chat. Nothing was going to go wrong for the next few moments, he supposed. He would contact Prime.

::Prowl to Prime::

::Here, Prowl. How is the tour going?:: Optimus

::It is going well. Aurion met Blurr, who bolted. And Mirage, who tried to be smooth, but she gave him a quick turn off. Now she is chattering with Sunstreaker and Sideswipe like they are best friends::

::I'm glad to hear it.::

::Glad-? Prime! The twins are double trouble! Add her and that will make triple trouble!::

"Calm down, Prowl. She may not be the prankster sort.::

::As you say.:: Prowl replied, but Optimus sensed his doubt.

::Don't worry. Prime out::

"'Don't worry, he says." Prowl murmured with a shake of his head and a sigh.

"That sounds like it would be so cool!" Auri exclaimed, disengaging Prowl from his musings.

"You want to go now?" Sunstreaker offered.

"I'd love to; however, Prowl is giving me a tour of the base." She said, starting to sound a little shy about refusing.

"Ah…" "Oh." "Yeah… right. Well..." "have fun, I guess."

"What?" Auri asked, noticing a change in their manner. "You think Prowl will bore me."

The twins glanced over at each other. "Where did that idea come from?" Sideswipe asked.

"I pick up on things pretty fast, twinlings." She said, shifting her stance a little.

Sunstreaker dipped his head a little, "We think fine of Prowl." He said, and Sideswipe nodded, adding, "We just aren't fascinated by details and technicalities."

"I understand. We're all different. Anyway, 'details and technicalities' are important, and they do interest me."

The twins looked slightly blank.

"Hey," she said, "I'm interested in fun things, too. Don't log me as boring. Let me get settled, and then we'll hit the race-track."

"Okay." The twins said, regaining their enthusiasm and grinning, "See you later."

"See you later." She replied before walking back to Prowl.

Prowl watched the twins watch her as she left them. They were interested in her, definitely interested, but as a friend and co-prank-ist, not as a femme in particular. Those two would probably only be interested in twin femmes or two close friend femmes for spark-mates. If they ever matured.

"I like those twins." Auri told Prowl, once they were out of audio-processor range.

"They get into mischief at an alarming rate." Prowl told her. "They break rules."

"Oh," she said, looking around. "They seemed alright to me."

"That was merely a first impression." Prowl said.

Auri glanced over her shoulder, looking back up the street from where they had come. "As you say, commander." She said respectfully, "But they were nice to me."

Prowl paused; then he managed to say, "Yes, they were nice to you." He just knew, though, that they were going to get in trouble and not be nice to him. She would learn about their habits soon enough, he supposed. And she was going to have appointed guardians to watch out for her. No need to brood.

Auri's expression had grown concerned during his silence. That wasn't necessary. He half-smiled at her. "It is alright." He said, "Come on; there is more to see."

"Okay." She answered happily and fell into step beside him, eager for whatever came next. "Why are there poles with words on them at the intersections?" she asked a moment later.

"Because people do not know the longitude and latitude of their locations as we do." Prowl explained. "This system is the most effective one they have found to help them sort out, direct others to, and rendezvous at various locations."

"I see. So, instead of saying 'I am at the co-ordinates of ##-##-##,' they say, "I m at the intersection of 29th Street and Lennox Road'?"

"Yes."

"Why does this road have the name of that organism I met yesterday?"

Prowl shuttered his optics for a second. "They are called humans. Call them 'humans.' Or, call them 'people.' Organism is slightly insulting."

"Oh." She said rather flatly.

"Do you wish to insult the humans?"

"There is not much they can do if we do." She reasoned like a small Autobot who had taken insults from larger ones.

Prowl repressed a groan. "Is it nice to insult someone?" He asked attempting to steer her to a correct answer.

"No."

"And since we must strive to be nice, we must not insult humans."

"Okay."

"They are our allies and friends as well. As for the street name, they did that to honor Major Lennox."

"Okay."

"Please respond with 'understood' or 'yes, Prowl' instead of 'okay.'"

"Yes, Prowl." She answered.

"Thank-you."

"You are welcome." She said. Then she looked a little frustrated. "Prowl, what is the significance of those phrases, thank-you and you are welcome? What are they in Cybertronian?"

Prowl's optics widened with surprise.

Auri lowered her head, feeling small and vulnerable.

"Do not feel bad," Prowls said, his hard, formal edge softening a little for second at her motion. "I will explain," he said, and he did so quite clearly.

"Thank-you for explaining that." She said softly when he was done.

"I am always ready to explain." Prowl said, nodding politely.

'And I have much to learn,' Auri thought to herself. It would be good though.

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Don't forget to check out Auri's picture and review! :)


	9. Chapter 9, Thoughts and Tickles

Chapter 9

**Thoughts and Tickles**

The lighting in the quarters had been dimmed for the night, and Auri was lying on the couch, trying to recharge. She couldn't though; too many things were still running through her processors. Try as she might, she couldn't calm down and relax. It was too early, really.

She sat up and looked around. The sun had gone down; it was time to recharge, but her recharge settings were still off from the trip and from waking up so late that morning. She was still too excited, as well.

She and Prowl had not covered much ground in their tour, but it had been highly interesting. Then they had gone to a short formal decision-making meeting. Prime and Elita had been there along with Ironhide, Chromia, and Ratchet; apparently, the decision had been come to before the meeting started, but they had to go along with the meeting as a matter of custom. Auri shook her head. Customs. She had talked out of line so many times in that short meeting; she hadn't known what the customs were regarding meetings.

She could pick up the sounds of Ironhide and Chromia talking softly to each other in their room. She lay back down. She had objected a little bit when they'd told her it was time to recharge, but Ironhide had smiled trustingly at her and had shaken his head as if to say, "Aw, come on, you know better than that," so she'd given in.

The meeting had made him and Chromia her official guardians, and it had made her the happiest Autobot on planet earth. She loved Ironhide and Chromia despite having only spent a number of hours with them.

After the meeting, they had discussed studies a bit. She had so much to learn about earth and earth customs. She smiled wryly, for she still had much to learn about Cybertron and Cybertronian customs. Ironhide had promised to give her self-defense lessons in a couple days; she was pleased about that.

She rolled over on her back, flattening her wings against her shoulders. This couch was certainly more comfortable than all the floors she had slept on, but she couldn't find the right way to lie. She usually curled up, but she was too excited to curl up and be cozy.

The whole base was safe. She could go out and about and not have to worry about creeps or Decepticons. Chromia had given her some more tour of the base and shown her a few things. Auri smiled at the thought of being able to roam freely. They had a race track. She savored that thought for a moment before thinking back to the twin mechs. She was going to have playmates. She loved that idea, for there had never been anyone around for her to play with. They would go racing, and she was sure the twins would know all sorts of other fun things to do on earth.

She flopped back over onto her front, her door-wings having grown uncomfortable with her weight on them, and continued to think. Would her old guardian ever return to Cybertron and wonder where she had gone and miss her? So many eons had passed since she'd realized that she'd been abandoned that she guessed her guardian had probably been offlined. Or indifferent. No. She would never believe that her guardian was indifferent. Not after all that love and care that had been showered on her; her guardian couldn't possibly indifferent after doing all that for her. She hadn't even known to say thank-you. She missed her old guardian now.

She curled up protectively and tucked her head against the back of the couch only to roll over again.

"Ironhide…?" she called cautiously. Her voice sounded very little in the dimness of the room.

"Yes, little one?" Ironhide's deep voice was strong and reassuring.

"Do… you tell stories?" she asked uncertainly. She heard a soft, pleased chuckle in the other room and the sound of Ironhide moving up.

"I tell stories." Ironhide said, coming in quietly. "Do you want one?"

She nodded. She had felt like a complete sparkling for asking for a story, but Ironhide's kind and pleased reaction reassured her.

"Don't you tell any war stories," Chromia ordered after him.

Ironhide smiled before answering back, "I've been telling stories to sparklings and younglings for millennia, Myspark; I know what to tell."

He sat down beside the little femme-ling. "Have you heard the tale of *^~**~^*?" he asked.

Auri nodded, "It's one of my favorites."

"Shall I tell it then?"

"Yes, -please-." She couldn't have been happier. She curled up, and Ironhide put his hand on her shoulder. He did so hesitantly, but she smiled and clasped her little hand over his fingers in the manner of small sparklings.

He began to tell the story in English, to Auri's fascination. She had never thought she would hear an old Cybertronian story in a different language. It was a beautiful story, and the way Ironhide told it was captivating. Chromia came softly in to sit at the table and listen as well.

Cybertron short stories were long compared to earth short stories, and quite some time passed before Ironhide reached the conclusion of the old tale. Auri was almost in full recharge mode, warm and restful beneath his hand.

"Good night, little one." He whispered, rising quietly and slipping his hand out from underneath hers. He went stealthily over to where Chromia was still sitting at the table; Chromia had shuttered her optics and was leaning her head against the wall.

"'Mia," he whispered, touching her leg.

"**YAH**!" the femme's arm cannon snapped out and slammed into his face and she kicked him in the chest, sending him stumbling backwards; he tripped and fell on his back, shaking the quartering complex. Chromia landed on his chest-plating, feet first, ready to blast the mech. She froze as she realized who it was. "Nice move, sneaking up on me like that!" she snapped, huffing air through her cooling systems.

"AWW…oh, my face…" Ironhide groaned.

"Aw," Chromia's aggressiveness dropped away immediately, and she cooed sympathetically, slipping off his chest and crouching beside him to caress his face, "I'm sorry, 'Hide; I'm sorry,"

"Oh…" he groaned.

Auri was sitting bolt upright, shocked, the massive crash having shaken her completely out of recharge. Her scanner picked only minimal damage to Ironhide's cheek, though; it was certainly nothing even for a youngling to complain about.

"Shall I kiss it all better?" Chromia offered. Auri's optics flew open even wider than before in confusion.

"Uh… yeah." The mech seemed to miraculously revive at the suggestion.

Auri rubbed her head in bafflement as Chromia press her lips to her mech's face. They were playing kissing games? Auri was confused. One of her ex-roommates had played kissing games with a Decepticon scout, and then Auri left to find a new flat. Now she had an Autobot couple, long since spark-bonded, playing the same game? What? She double-checked the personal files on her new –and apparently crazy- guardians. Indeed, they had been bonded long, long before she had been created.

Auri looked away, but she smiled though. They were crazy. –in a good way. Slowly, it began to make sense.

"Why did you sneak up on me like that anyway, silly mech?" Chromia asked. Auri peeked back at them, curious as to what the answer would be.

"I was trying to not disturb Auri from recharge…"

Chromia lifted her head to look at towards the couch. "Nice going, mech." She said drying, rising. "She's full awake now."

Ironhide rolled over and rose stiffly, "Oh. So much for that," He smiled apologetically at Auri. "I'm sorry that we woke you up, Auri."

"It's okay. I'm very tired now anyway." She said.

"Alright. Good night, little one." He said, "May you recharge well."

"You, too." Auri murmured as she lay back down and curled up. Chromia came over and whispered good night to her before leaving with Ironhide. Then Auri drifted off into recharge.

The night passed quietly –nobody knew what the twins did until later-, and the first rays of dawn stretched towards the base. Gentle fingers played on Auri's side, sending a light tingling feeling to her processors that activated pleasure receptors. It was new feeling and brought her system out of recharge, waking her up. She shifted a little and smiled.

"Tickle, tickle," Chromia said, "Wake up, my little bright spark," she tickled Auri a little more, keeping at it until the femme-ling giggled and rolled over.

"What are you doing?" Auri questioned as she laughed. It was by far the most pleasant way of being woken up she had ever experienced.

"I'm waking you up by tickling you." Chromia said, smiling down at her.

"I've never been tickled before." Auri said.

Chromia frowned. "You parental units never tickled you?"

"No…" she shook her head. "My guardian never tickled me either."

Chromia hid her shocked disapproval. Sparklings required much attention and care, and that included being held and played with.

"Well, that ends here." Chromia said firmly before a lighter look displaced the sharp determined glow in her optics. "Sparklings must be tickled." She said with mock sternness, "You missed out, so you are in for a heap of it."

Auri grinned; that appealed to her.

Chromia gave her a light poke. "Now, are you just a little bit ticklish or very?"

"I don't know…." Auri said, hesitating as new pathways began developing in her processors.

"Better come up with answer," Chromia said, starting to tickle her again, "I'll tickle you to death." She teased lovingly.

Auri was giggling too hard to answer and gave Chromia a light shove with her foot. Then she realized that two could play at this game. Both femmes were laughing with each other when Ironhide came in from patrol.

"What's this?" he asked, noting with pleasure how happy his femmes were.

"Tickling…" Chromia said gustily, her vocal processors a little over-exerted from laughing so hard.

"What?" he said, "Tickling somebot not me?"

"I was waking her up. I _already_ woke you up." Chromia replied extra playfully, flirting with her mech.

"Whoa!" Auri exclaimed, caught off guard. "Too much!" she covered her face with her arms, and her new guardians looked at her in confusion.

"What's too much?" Chromia asked after a moment.

"That…! –It was startling!" She had gotten used to the kissing of last night; she'd decided that it was pretty cute. But this was new.

"Us expressing our affection for each other?" Ironhide asked.

"Uh-huh."

"Little one," he gently nudged her arms down so he could see her face, "Did your creators never express endearment?"

"At some point, I suppose, but I never knew them."

"Your 'guardians' then?" Chromia asked, using the term 'guardian' loosely, resenting them for what Auri had said earlier about not getting tickled. It was more about not giving a youngling attention than about the actual tickling.

"My guardian was single and didn't bring 'the other make' around." Auri explained. "I had a room-mate once who brought a Decepticon mech over once, but I left soon after."

"Did we bother you last night, too, then?" Chromia asked, concerned.

"Ah… it was a little startling." Auri admitted.

"We love each other," Ironhide said, meeting Chromia's optics briefly before refocusing on the femme-ling, "And we like to tease each other like it's our first time together. We're not stopping… However, if it gets to be too much, you can call 'smooch-patrol' at us."

Auri giggled. "Okay. It's alright now; I was just surprised at first. I didn't know how bonded Transformers behave."

"Oh, dear," Chromia said, "Ironhide and I act like younglings love-struck for this first time, but other pairs usually behave a little less freely."

"Ah." Said Auri.

"Okay?" Chromia asked.

Auri nodded with a smile, "Yeah. Okay, now that I think about it. It's romantic, y'know? -still being in love after millennia."

Chromia nodded, "I like it. Hey, let's breakfast now so we can head out soon."

"Good idea!"Ironhide said, "I'm hungry enough to eat a little Autobot," he teased Auri.

"You're in trouble then!" Auri replied jumping up. "-Because I'm hungry enough to eat a big one!" she growled.

"Oh, no-!" Ironhide stepped back; Auri jumped off the couch after him. The floor shook at little as Ironhide dodged her small hands.

"Oh…. And to think I processed that a little femme would be less rowdy…" Chromia mused, smiling as the little femme ran growling after the retreating Ironhide. 'There's not a chance with Ironhide around.' She mused.

"Don't mess up the furniture!" she called. "Not… that they'll listen."

* * *

I've drawn a G1 style picture of Auri and posted it as my Fanfiction avatar, in case you want to see sort of what she looks like. A picture is worth a thousand words, y'know ;)

Also, I've started another Transformers fic called, "In The Event of an Autobot Party," so check that out, too, if you like rule lists by Prowl. :)

* * *

Review Please! I love reviews!

V


	10. Chapter 10, Learning

What goes on between Ironhide and Auri is a completely father and daughter relationship. Nothing else. Get that.

The song "21 Guns" belongs to Green Day. It's not mine.

The first rule of the battlefield was inspired by the movie _Batman Begins_. Awesome movie. XD

* * *

Chapter 10

**Learning**

"Nope, Ironhide; really never."

Ironhide stared down at his beloved little youngling in amazement. "You've never been taught to defend yourself? -never even studied how?" he asked for the second time. She had been with Chromia and him for a few days, and he was now assessing her self-defense skills and beginning her training. He was trying to anyway; he was finding that he would have to start from the very beginning.

"I've never." Auri said patiently, trying to figure out why Ironhide kept asking, "I was trained in communications and secretary work, data, files and such. I've told you, yes?"

"Yes, my little one." He answered. "I just find it hard to understand... What was your guardian thinking?" he wondered aloud.

"I don't know." Auri shrugged.

Ironhide glanced around the practice field. He knew she'd been neglected, but really, how could a guardian not take measures to make sure his or her little one could defend herself if need be? Chromia had wanted to be Auri's teacher at swordplay and self-defense, but Auri had asked Ironhide before Chromia could say anything. While his sparkmate had been a little surprised, she had not protested.

Ironhide glanced down at his precious charge. She was gazing off now, looking at the ocean, and slightly swinging one of the twin knives. He frowned. She was completely off guard and oblivious to her situation. That was not good. At least she had the knives in practice mode. Weapons in practice mode were virtually harmless, unless the user chose to send a little electrical shock through them.

"Auri, do you know what the first rule on the battlefield is?" he asked, crouching down to her height.

"All 'Cons must die?" she guessed, spinning the knife experimentally.

"Oh, no…" Ironhide groaned, "No, my little one; that is not even a rule. We should come to peace with the Cons if at all possible, and that does not included offlining every single one of them."

She considered this and nodded that she understood.

"The first rule is, 'always be mindful of your surroundings.'" Ironhide said, "It's especially important for the smaller, more vulnerable 'Bots to remember. The Cons tend to go after smaller opponents.

"Ug. But I can't say I wouldn't do the same."

"True, but it is the way in which they do it. They're malicious."

"Understood."

A little while later, Ironhide felt that Auri was ready for a couple practice moves. She displayed a confidence and picked up quickly on all that he instructed.

Auri brought her knives into readiness. Ironhide smiled before snapping his battle mask into place. Auri copied his action.

"Ready?" he asked.

"Feeling lucky?" she retorted, having learned much from watching him interact with other bots.

He tilted his head to the side, wondering how much and what else she'd picked up from him and if he should be more careful about his manner of addressing others.

He slung his twin knives out and down, comparatively slowly, towards her. She dodged, rolled, spun and "stabbed" him in the ankle with an electric shock.

"HOLD IT!" He roared in surprise, hopping to the side. He hadn't taught her that.

She came before him, grinning a little.

"Where did that come from if you've never fought?" He wanted to know, his optics wide with surprise. He disengaged his battle mask.

She ducked her head to disengage her battle mask. "I've danced."

"Y-... what-? Danced?" He'd become fairly accustomed to unusual or surprising answers from her, but this one was a little beyond him.

"I believe that is the correct term… dance…" She stepped back and began a series of smooth, graceful movements.

"Yes, that is dance." He confirmed, a baffled look on his face.

"So, for that move I did a combination of this…" she went into motion again, executing the new battle moves.

"Okay. Stop ." He said, trying to not laugh, "Fight is not dance."

She stopped and smiled up at him. "It has the same moves." She said earnestly.

"Well…"

"It is in the way one does it." Auri persisted. "I … twirl, like so…" Ironhide crossed his arms. "And you showed me this…" She snapped out the knives in the spin and stabbed the air. "Same move."

"Excuse me just a moment." Ironhide said before walking off several yards, shaking his head.

::Ironhide to Chromia. I need help:: he sent over the intercom.

::With what?::Chromia

::Auri thinks fight moves are like dance moves.::

::She's got the right idea, though, my Love. I can't help you anyway; Ratchet's got me in Med-bay for routine check-up.:: Chromia was laughing at him as she sent the message.

::Ironhide out:: Ironhide closed the com-line and thought back to the days of song and dance, retrieving an old Cybertronian party song and its dance moves by chance. He smiled, remembering old times. There was something similar there in the dance moves to battlefield moves, come to think of it.

He went back to Auri. She turned and waved a knife at him.

"Dance moves are like fight moves." Auri said, challenging him, "I have more experience in this art than you think."

"Let's see how much, then." Ironhide spoke amiably, but a chuckle made his voice sound deeper and more aggressive than it truly was as he snapped his battle mask in place.

_Do you know what's worth fighting for?  
When it's not worth dying for?  
Does it take your breath away  
And you feel yourself suffocating?_

Auri followed suit, forcing herself to not tremble as she suddenly felt herself become terrified. He was way hulking bigger, and she hadn't expected him to respond that way. She wanted out, now, but she wouldn't dare think of saying so. She feared being reject for acting scared. Cons hated Transformers who ran away, scorned them as weak and pathetic. 'Bots, as honor-bound as they were, would hardly be pleased either, she supposed. And she didn't need Ironhide displeased with her; that would hurt too much. She glanced around, seeking some sort of distraction that might provide a way out. There was none, no hope. She considered herself doomed.

_Does the pain weigh out the pride?  
And you look for a place to hide?  
Did someone break your heart inside?  
You're in ruins_

"What is wrong, My Auri?" Ironhide asked, quickly dropping down on one knee to lessen his vast height. He had seen the flicker in her optics, the fear and sorrow. Not once in her short stay with Chromia and him had she acted afraid of him. Even when they were playing rough, she'd not gotten frightened. Now she seemed terrified of him. He hadn't meant to frighten her. He would never knowingly do a thing like that.

Ratchet's warning about possible issues came rushing back. Ratchet had told him and Chromia privately yesterday that further medical scans had informed him that the little femme-ling had suffered from lack of attention. Certain programs that were dominant in all sparklings' systems had never been accessed or activated in Auri's system. These needed to run; they were essential for development, especially behavioral development. After Chromia had raged at the unknown and un-present former guardian for neglecting so precious a sparkling, Ratchet had assured her and Ironhide that given proper care and attention over time, Auri would be fine, almost as if the neglect had never occurred.

"Nothing's wrong." Auri said, stiffening her back.

"Don't give me that," Ironhide said, gently, "I saw the look on your face."

_One, 21 guns  
Lay down your arms, give up the fight  
One, 21 guns  
Throw up your arms into the sky, you and I_

"It was nothing." Auri lied.

"Auri, little one…"

She turned away.

_When you're at the end of the road  
And you lost all sense of control  
And your thoughts have taken their toll  
When your mind breaks the spirit of your soul_

"Don't fight me." Ironhide pleaded. He pushed back a slight feeling of desperation. The medic had warned that Auri might be afraid of certain things that any other youngling wouldn't fear. Ironhide didn't want his little femme-ling to be scared to talk to him. "We're on the same side. You can trust me. –with anything."

"'Anything' is a lot, Ironhide…" Auri said softly, trailing off."I can't. I just can't." she said. "I just … I've only known you for three days…"

_Your faith walks on broken glass  
And the hangover doesn't pass  
Nothing's ever built to last  
You're in ruins_

Ironhide reached out and set his hand on her shoulder, gently, mindful of the little femme's fear. "I've had my character for millennia, I'm not suddenly going to change my way in a second, my little one. What you've seen over the past three days is what I am."

_One, 21 guns  
Lay down your arms, give up the fight  
One, 21 guns  
Throw up your arms into the sky, you and I_

She looked deep into his face. She wondered if she should tell, but the fears came piling up.

"Seriously, Auri, try me. Don't run away from me because I'm big and tough-looking. Put away the fear." He put a great hand under her chin, "Please?"

"No." Auri said. "I'll…" she hesitated. What could she do, really? She wouldn't tell him she wanted to back down. She would survive… somehow. "It's fine." She moved away from his hands and lifted her chin. "I said 'fine.' I mean 'fine.'" She was resigned within and defiant without. She wasn't going to back out…

_Did you try to live on your own  
When you burned down the house and home?  
Did you stand too close to the fire  
Like a liar looking for forgiveness from a stone?_

"That's not true." Ironhide persisted. "I've been around for enough year s to know that 'fine' does not always mean 'fine.' –particularly when it's spoken by a frightened little-one who needs support." He answered. "Give up this fight, Auri."

_When it's time to live and let die  
And you can't get another try  
Something inside this heart has died  
You're in ruins_

"What if that means I lose?" Auri asked, thinking about her future. If she lost her future with the Autobots because she was marked as a coward, she would have been better off if she'd never set foot on earth, for the Decepticons knew there was a small, vulnerable femme on the planet.

"Auri. You will never regret losing to me. What about the last two days? Have you always won?"

She gave him another deep searching look. They had had a couple little battles of the wills since she had become his and Chromia's ward, but she had surrendered each time, and nothing bad had happened. Ironhide dipped his head a little, keeping optic contact.

"I promise you won't regret." He told her.

_One, 21 guns  
Lay down your arms, give up the fight  
One, 21 guns  
Throw up your arms into the sky  
_"Alright…" she said slowly, "I…" she hesitated as she struggled to override the fear reactors in her system. She wished it wasn't so hard. She didn't understand why it was so hard. "I don't want to … to sword-fight with you. Even though I challenged you."

Ironhide felt confusion over her fear of admitting that to him, but he sighed with relief, overjoyed that she had confided in him. "That's perfectly alright, My Auri, and I understand completely your fear of taking me on."

"Really? -You do?" she swung her head up to look at him in confused amazement.

"Yes. I am pretty intimidating. I know that. I guess I sounded more than a little dangerous when I took up your challenge. It's my fault. I don't blame you a bit for wanting to back out." He put his hands on her shoulders. "It's completely alright."

"Thank-you…" she said softly, relieved.

"I did not mean to scare you." He said, bringing her close to hug her.

She cuddled against his shoulder, "I didn't want to appear scared." She confided.

"Nobot does." He reassured her. "Okay now?"

"Yeah. Okay." She smiled. She still felt shaky, but it was over. It was alright to be afraid now and then, and Bots wouldn't reject her for it. She'd confessed to her fear, and Ironhide hadn't kicked her aside in disgust In fact, he was smiling down on her.

"Shall we get back to the official lesson?" he asked, hoping she would still want to go on with him.

"Yes, 'Hide. Let's get. And anything you say goes." She answered, speaking with a new confidence.

_One, 21 guns  
Lay down your arms, give up the fight  
One, 21 guns  
Throw up your arms into the sky, you and I._

Sometime later, the great old Autobot warrior stood just to the side his little protégée. They were finished with self-defense lessons for the day. They were both hot, but Auri wasn't quite as overheated as Ironhide had feared she might become. He supposed it must have come from being in line with dancing.

"We're done here; would you like to see the challenge course?" He asked. He was content with the day's work. She had done well with her first round of training, and they had bonded some more.

"Yes!" She said, ever eager to see new things.

He motioned her to come, and they walked along an access road.

"We'll go along this road. You can get into the mix later." He told her.

"Fine with me." She said, blowing at the dirt on her vambraces. "Messy here."

She remained looking up at him even though he had turned away and they were walking on. "I can tell you anything?" she asked after several minutes.

He stopped. "Yes." He replied with earnest sincerity, "Yes, anything, Auri."

"And you won't hate me?"

He felt his processing nearly jam. Pausing, he stopped to straighten it out. Three days she had been with him and Chromia, and they had grown very close; the incident on the field had been harrowing for him and now this question was terrifying. He picked her up gently and seated her on top of a trailer, bringing her to optic level. "I won't hate you." He vowed, "You shouldn't even think that I would hate you, or any other Autobot, for that fact."

He studied her young face, wishing he could find out what had prompted such a question. He knew it would be rooted in the past and that it would have something to do with being neglected. He added, "I may be disappointed with bad behavior, or sorrowful over something grievous, but I don't – and won't- hate my fellows. I never give up on them."

She lowered her head and processed this thoroughly before looking up at him again. "I just feel so small and vulnerable… and not knowing is hard."

"'Not knowing' what?"

"N-not knowing what will happen to me." She said sadly with lowered head.

"You can trust us, my little one; we will always look after you. You must know that,"

"I... I guess I was raised ignorant as well as neutral."

"You're a bright little 'Bot," he encouraged her, "That won't be too hard to fix."

"It's the 'fixing' I fear." She whispered.

"Fear not." He answered, "We love you. Always, always remember that we love you."

She was silent. He rubbed her shoulder.

"I love you, my little youngling." He said softly, meaning it with all his spark.

Her head came up, her optics wide.

"You are as my own sparkling, Auri. I would not have you be afraid – not for the whole universe."

"O-!" she seemed on the verge of overload, as if she could not process what he meant.

He took her into his arms as she started to cry a little. "Oh, what did I say?" he asked.

"Something nobody has ever said to me," She whispered, "I love you, too."


	11. Chapter 11, Mechs and Cannons

Credit for the twins' keyboard prank that I will mention goes to Hummergrey. She has lists of creative pranks and rules! I love them! (I only have one list, and progress on it is slow… you can still check it out though; it's called "In the Event of an Autobot Party").

After watching the Discovery Channel's "Boom De Yada" song on YouTube, I could not resist doing what I did in the first section of this chapter. :) A special thank-you to MisCrasyaboutfanficsfor telling me about the song! I love this song; it always puts a big smile on my face! (Your writing and your reviews make me smile soooo much, too, MisCrasy!) For those who haven't heard the song or seen the video, search on YouTube, "Discovery Channel Song 1 & 2 - Boom De Ya Da" if you like. It has Optimus Prime in it! XD

* * *

**Chapter 11**

**Mechs and Cannons**

Weapons fire boomed and echoed and the ground shook as five huge mechs ran through weapons practice. They did a form of skeet shooting; shooting at stationary targets was not their thing. Besides, Decepticons never just stood and waited for one to aim and fire.

"Regroup!" Optimus called, and they all came back from where they had scattered. They had finished round four; it was time to cool off a little and checked the status of their weapons.

"My total score is still the highest," Ironhide announced, a pleased look on his face.

"Yeah, yeah; we know." Ratchet cut him off. The weapons mech shook his head tolerantly at the medic. Optimus chuckled at them.

The other two mechs, Inferno and Ultra Magnus, came up from the lower field, shaking the ground underfoot as they moved quickly.

"Nice shooting, 'Hide." Inferno said.

"Thanks. You, too." Ironhide said, grinning. "Ah, I got just one more charge left and this'll be empty..."

"Fire," Optimus offered.

Ironhide aimed, and fired, "Boom-de-yada," he growled playfully.

Except for Optimus, the other mechs stared at him like he lost it. He ducked his head. "What?" he rumbled, "Auri's been watching the Discovery Channel…"

"Is that supposed explain…it?" Ultra Magnus asked.

"It's a phrase from a song they play on a commercial." Ironhide explained, looking annoyed with himself. "Like I said, Auri's been watching it a whole lot. Bumblebee spent hours watching it when he first found it."

"'_I love the whole world_,'" Optimus sang, "_'__No place I'd rather be/ Boom de yada, boom de yad…_' Uh…" now he got the odd stare, and Ironhide grinned, "Nevermind." The Autobot leader said sheepishly, "Just watch the channel sometime."

"I'm not sure that would be safe." Ultra Magnus said, giving him and Ironhide a skeptical look. "_I_ might end up singing 'boom-de-ya-da,' and _that_ would be really weird."

"I'd like to see that." Ironhide said as he began the process of checking the replacement parts in his cannon. "ARG!" he yelled, "The ^^~** connector has melted!"

"Again?" Inferno asked, frowning.

Ironhide nodded unhappily. The part had gotten broken some time ago, and he'd not yet figured out which alloy would hold up to the heat of repeated firing. Some of the wires were getting corroded, too, but he'd fix them later that day. "I'll ask Auri if she'll bring the replacement out here." He muttered, disgruntled with the weapon's defect. "She'd better not get lost." He said, frowning after a brief intercom conversation with Auri.

"Is she in the habit of getting lost?" Optimus asked, looking up from checking his small blaster with a smile; he knew the little femme wasn't.

"Well, no. But still…! She's not been out here before." Ironhide reasoned. Several days had passed since the sword lesson, and he was feeling more and more protective of his little charge than ever.

"Have you completely spoiled her yet?" Ratchet asked grimly, but his tone was just a front; he was concerned about the little femme-ling.

"Oh… we've not spoiled her quite yet," Ironhide said, "Bedtime stories are routine now, though. And neither Chromia nor I can come back from doing something without having to answer a slew of questions about all we've done. And she's Velcro when it comes to hanging onto us after hugs."

"She's sure is a sweet youngling," Inferno said; he'd met and gotten acquainted with the little femme. "My Firestar and I are quite willing to 'babysit' any time."

"Ha! Like we'd let her out of our sight." Ironhide retorted, but he smiled at his old friend. He would let the other Autobot pair enjoy his little femme-ling sometime, but he wasn't ready to just yet. He paused to check his ion pistol.

"Have you met her?" Optimus asked Ultra Magnus; the other mech hadn't had anything to say for quite some time.

"I have." The red, white, and blue commander said, ducking his head a little, "Briefly."

"She scared'im." Ironhide said, grinning.

"Startled." Ultra Magnus corrected.

"She jumped out from behind a corner with two fully charged mini-swords and a Decepticon war cry." Ironhide said with relish, "And he jumped backwards, snapping his battle-mask up so fast."

Ultra Magnus shrugged at that with an easy-going gesture while the others chuckled.

"She had been waiting for Ironhide and mistook my step for his." Ultra Magnus said, "My reaction was only natural. She stood there for a second, and then said –sheepishly-, 'Ah… you're not Ironhide.' I said, 'no… I am not.' And then she ran off."

"I saw the whole scene from across the street." Ironhide said. "I loved it."

"You're biased." Ratchet stated, having had to deal with new fathers for millennia.

Further retort was stored away for later as a bright little sports-car came revving up the small hill to where the mechs were conversing.

Auri pulled up close to Ironhide, halted, and transformed. "Hello!"

"Hello," the other mech's heard the softness in Ironhide's greeting.

She held up the replacement piece for all to see, "I have a fine… replacement thing -piece for a Really Big Cannon," she announced, "What am I bid for it?"

"A cuddle and a piece of information." Ironhide said.

"Sold-!" she said, bouncing to receive her price.

Ironhide knelt down to give her a hug, "What's the information?" she asked eagerly as she nestled her head against his.

"The information is about what this 'replacement thing' is."

"Oh." She said, sounding slightly disappointed. "I do know what it is; I just don't know the name." she explained. Then she looked pleased as she stepped back, "I know where it goes." She adored her guardians with all her spark, and it gave her pleasure to no end to please them; she knew Ironhide would like it that she knew about cannons.

"Let's see then," Ironhide said, holding the cannon out for her to look at. The others watched.

She cocked her head and motioned for him to turn it over, which he did, and then she undid part of the paneling. "Um…" she slid back another part of the weapon and carefully took out a piece. She glanced up and smiled at his intent expression. "There. It goes in here. Ooo…! These wires need to be replaced, too."

"You know about guns." Ironhide said, astonished, impressed, and pleased. The other mechs grinned at the wonderful look at Ironhide's face. Ratchet covered his optics; the weapons specialist was going to be insufferably pleased with his youngling more than ever now.

Auri, oblivious to the audience, nodded, thrilled with her guardian's reaction, "Lots, and lots. But I've never fired one."

"N-…?" Now he was astonished and confused.

"My old guardian always had lots and lots and LOTS to clean. So, after awhile, I picked up on the process. I worried my guardian a bit to start with, but I got it figured out." She slid the replacement into place with a soft click. "I can take apart whole cannons and put them back together again. May I stay and learn to shoot?" she asked, looking up at him.

He shook his head. "No. Not right now." He said.

She looked disappointed but didn't say anything.

Ironhide rose, "I will show you within a few days."

She looked pleased. "Alright! May I stay and watch instead?"

"Ah…" he paused, "Well,"

"He means 'no'." Ratchet said bluntly.

Ironhide glared at the medic but crouched down to and turned a gentle face to Auri, "We're rough-housing, my little one, and… This is the mechs' equivalent of bond-time." He explained.

She paused to process for a moment. "I had better leave you mechs then. The femmes talk about cannons, old times, and _'the other make'_ when they have bond-time."

Ironhide nodded.

Auri went up to hug her guardian again. "Okay. I will see you later,"

"Yes; bye for now, my femme-ling."

"Bye…" she turned slowly to leave and walked off a little ways before cheering up and scampering down the hill.

"Awwww." Inferno said. "It's a good thing Firestar and I aren't her guardians…" he shook his head. "Mech, she'd shatter my spark with one little pout if I told her no."

Ironhide chuckled at him. Ratchet muttered something about spoiling sparklings, but Optimus smiled.

"Is she aware that she has 4.8 tons of soft, malleable metal in her little hands?" the leader asked.

"Not at all." Ironhide said. "Besides, she doesn't have '4.8 tons of soft, malleable metal in her little hands.' I'm not going to spoil her."

"Brave words." Ratchet replied. "Brave words. When are you going to teach her how to shoot?"

"Tomorrow." Ironhide said.

The following morning, true to his word, Ironhide gave Auri a lesson in cannon-practice. They went through none of the drama they had gone through with the self-defense lessons. Ironhide was glad, for that meant that things were improving in Auri's processors. Auri was happy with the lesson, pleased that she was developing another skill.

"Y'know," Ironhide said when they were finished with the lesson. "Sunstreaker and Sideswipe are sitting on the challenge course playing video games. Why don't you go give them something more real to dodge."

Auri cocked her head, considering it. "Is that safe?"

"Not for them it ain't." Ironhide said, grinning with ominous glee.

"Well… okay," she said, grinning as she caught on to her guardian's mischievous intent.

Ironhide hunkered down, "Now, here's what you do…"

The bright and shiny twins were sitting behind a wall, preserving their paint jobs while fighting virtual battles. They bickered pleasantly over their inter-com. and tried to out-shoot each other.

"BANG! You're both offline!" A small 'Bot yelled, jumping between them, knocking them over with a simulated blast from twin mini-cannons.

"WHOA!" "WHAAAAAT-?" they yelled, rolling and springing up with battle-masks engaged.

Auri grinned up at them.

"What do you think you are doing?" Sunstreaker demanded, gusting air through his venting system to cool off the emergency programs that had kicked in when she scared him.

"I could ask the same thing of you," she said before blowing at the end of the right the mini-cannon.

"You'd have to drag it out of us." Sideswipe said, teasing.

"I could do that…" She bragged like Ironhide, missing that fact that her hero was much, much larger.

"Nevermind." Sunstreaker wasn't interested in having his twin and the femme bickering. "How do you like NEST Base so far?"

"I'm liking it. Ironhide just finished giving me a shooting lesson." She replied, smiling. "Y'know, I haven't seen you since that first day."

"Ah, yeah. We've been a little busy." The twins gave each other a brief glance, mutually agreeing to tell what they'd been doing but to keep secret the part about Prowl throwing them in the brig for switching letters on the humans' key boards among other things. "We've been on Base a little, but we've also been on patrols, here and there. We fought with a Decepticon one day." Sunny said,

"Then once we got back there were all kinds of reports to make." Sides continued, "And making reports is not fun stuff."

"It takes hours." Sunny muttered.

"Hours? Why so long?" Auri asked.

"Wording, and getting all the details, and phrasing, and paragraphs, and ALL in English, too, so the humans can read it."

"We don't have Document translators?" programs in her data-bank were booting up at the prospect of making a translator system.

"No. We don't even have a keyboard for our glyphs that allows us to type in Cybertronian." Sunny said, and Sides added, "We use a touch-pad to write in Cybertronian, and those don't interlink with typed documents."

"Hmm… Mmm… That shouldn't be too big of a problem to overcome…" She mused. This would be a good, interesting challenge to take on.

"Too big? Ha! How about too time-consuming and boring." Sunny threw his hands in the air.

'Sides shook his head. "Sunny and I don't mind hacking stuff; that's fairly easy. But, writing whole programs? No way."

"Yeah," Sunny averred, "The 'Bots that have the time don't have the inclination, and the 'Bots that have the inclination don't have the time."

"So, there are 'Bots who are inclined?" Auri asked; they could get together in a group and work that way.

"Errr… Make that 'there is _one_ 'Bot.' Prowl."

"I think I may go talk to Prowl." One Bot was better than none, and Prowl was… well, she admired him from a distance. He had such a cool job.

"You just got started talking to us, though!" The twins protested.

"No, I mean, _after_ I'm finished with you."

"Yeah!" Sides said. "We had some pretty interesting experiences off-base you'd probably like to hear about."

Auri nodded, "I like to hear about adventures."

Sunny grinned. "Yeah, well, it was a little boring at first, but then we picked up a hitch-hiker."

"Did he mind?" Auri gasped, envisioning the twins in bi-pedal mode holding a human aloft.

"Oh, no, no, no; I mean, we gave him a lift.-that is, Sunny's holographic driver gave him a lift." 'Sides clarified.

"Oh." Auri said, "So?"

"He sure was a strange fellow." Sunny said, shaking his head. "He was rather raggedy, and grizzled, and he had this bag that he would not put down. He just sat there frowning and holding it tightly. I asked where he was going, y'know, just to be friendly, and he said, 'None-a-yore business!' all curt-like and clutching the bag tighter. And I said, 'oh, okay' and let it drop."

"Then he tried asking what his name was," 'Sides said, "Same answer: 'none-a-yore business!'"

"Then, getting curious, I asked, 'what's in the bag?'" Sunny said. Auri's optics were fairly riveted on the twins. "And he said, 'None-a-yore business!' We drive along a little further, and I ask again, 'dude, what's in the bag?' because I was getting a little concerned, and he snaps "None-a-yore business!' getting ugly. Well, that was enough. I mean, I'll put up with people, but if they act up, I kick them out."

"Well, yeah!" Auri exclaimed, perturbed.

"So I snag the bag with a safety-belt as I slow down, and then shove him out real fast and slam the door. He jumps up yelling, and I speed away." Sunny motioned with his hand, "And that was it." he finished.

"W-What was in the bag?" Auri asked, dying with curiousity.

"None-a-yore business!" Sunny exclaimed, and 'Sides doubled over with laughter.

"Wh…?" Auri gazed at the twins, confused. Then realization that they'd been telling her a tall-tale dawned on her. "OH!"

They both laughed, all the more harder. "Got it?" Sunny asked.

"Got it all over." Auri said grinning, starting to laugh at herself.

Sunny patted her shoulder. "We fell for that one the first time, too."

"'None-a-yore business.'" Auri repeated, giggling. "You're silly mechs."

"Ah… we're cool, too!" Sunny said.

"Real cool!" Sides added, and then Sunny asked, grinning, "Okay, what do you wanna to do now?"

"Take yah on, and take yah apart!" she said, mimicking Ironhide and charging up the mini-cannons. "Simulated battle."

"Awesome!" Sides said.

"YEAH!" Sunny yelled, swinging out his weapons in practice mode. "Let's do it!"


	12. Chapter 12, Femme BondTime

Okay, Silent Hunter, early update just for you! ;)

* * *

Chapter 12

**Femme Bond-Time **

"You're not mad?" Sunny asked, his hand on Auri's shoulder to steady her. He looked anxiously over at his brother.

"Nope." Auri answered, brushing mud out of her optics. She was completely covered with mud and grit, and some organic things that her system indentified as algae were stuck in with the mud.

"You promise? You're sure?" Both twins checked. They had dumped her in the mire during their battle game in a moment of rashness.

"I promise; I'm not mad." She said, but felt she might soon be; mud was trickling down her back and under her armoring. It felt really, really gross.

"Really, truly?" Sideswipe verified.

"Really, truly." She said, working to not squirm with discomfort as the mud began seeping into her protoform. That was super nasty.

"Well… okay. Good. See you later then?"

"See you later."

"We're still on for taking Energon together this evening?"

"Yes!" she said, getting exasperated.

"Okay!" The twins drove away, hurrying a little so they could wash before reporting for surveillance.

"Yuuuuuuck." Auri wailed once they were out of audio receptor range. "Yuck! EEEEEW!" she could squirm now, but that did not help. "Nasty, nasty, nasteeeeeeee." She fussed, wriggling in discomfort as she brought up the co-ordinates of the bath house.

"Next time I won't be caught off guard so easily." She told herself as she plotted her course and started on it. "Ew! –I hate this stuff! Ugh! I won't assume the twins don't see me when I sneak up on them. And I won't talk like I'm Ironhide's size, either, because size obviously has a lot to do with how much one can brag. Oh… gross…" She paused to pry a small piece of bark out of her knee joint. "I won't get distracted by pretty flying things either, although, I still wonder what it was…" she trailed off and began sorting through the animal files for something that looked like the minute creature that had floated by while she'd been waiting for the twins. "Butterfly." She said, pleased with herself for finding it.

Auri stopped and hesitated once she reached the bathhouse. She had stayed clean enough since her arrival that she had only had to wipe off a little exterior grime with a cleaning cloth, but now she would have to brave the bathhouse. The water element was a little strange to her and it gave her doubts. Water was fine. It was perfect. She just wasn't used to it. It was safer than dirt. All life on earth relied on water; without water, the planet would be completely dead. That was a stunning thought. There was no water on Cybertron; there were other liquids, but no water.

She had to wash the mud off before it dried, so she decided she'd better go in. There was a side of the bathhouse for mechs, and there was a side for femmes. She opened the door to the femmes' side and stepped in. The entry area was filled with water in vaporous form. Steam.

The main part of the bathhouse was a nice big room with plenty of space for a number of femmes. Benches stood against the walls in several places, and there were cubes of cleansing gel on two shelves. Showerheads came out of the wall at certain places with activation keypads below them. Elita-One was there, standing under a flow of water, scrubbing her shoulder-plating. Moonracer was there getting clean, too. Auri had met the pretty sniper and liked her very much. Chromia was sitting on a bench, washing her bare protoform legs, her leg armoring set to the side.

"… told him that was completely out of the question. But –y'know how mechs are- next thing I knew-" Chromia halted mid-sentence, "Hi, my little one!" she greeted cheerfully, "Come to wash?"

Auri nodded. "Yes… I spent two hours on the challenge course with the twins, and they dumped me in the swamp for their crowning victory." she answered.

"Did you get them for that?" Moonracer asked with anticipation, twisting her washcloth.

"They were pretty concerned when I crawled out with a scowl," Auri said, smiling, "And they apologized and kept making sure that I wasn't mad. They were so cute that I didn't have it in my spark to be mad at them."

"Make sure they treat you properly." Elita said gently. The twins were generally good to femmes, but they could pull some mean pranks.

"They do. I did sort of ask for it, anyway." Auri replied. She was watching the water, not entirely sure about getting under it. "I was picking on them a bit… Ironhide picks on his opponents."

The older femmes smiled. "That he does," said Chromia, amused.

"It doesn't work out so well for smaller Bots, though." Auri said. Moonracer chuckled fondly, and Chromia snapped a wet towel at her. Moonracer dodged then threw a cube of soap, missing her friend by a couple inches.

Auri laughed at their antics, but she gave the running water another doubtful look.

"Go on, bright spark. It's okay." Chromia encouraged her.

Auri hesitated.

"Don't make me push you in." Elita teased gently; she was the nearest to Auri.

Auri smiled and shifted her feet. The femme commander splashed some water her way. Auri squealed and ducked, covering her head.

"Aw, come on." Elita said, moving closer.

Auri shook her head. "Oh, no…" she said, moving back more for the fun of it than from actual fear.

"Yes," Elita said, smiling as Auri started to grin. She pulled the little femme under the water.

"YEEE-!" Auri started to shriek, but she then fell quiet as she felt the warmth of the water and felt its softness as it cascaded over her form. "O… I like it."

Elita chuckled, pleased. "I'm pretty fond of it myself."

"It's nice…" Auri said, moving around in the spray, starting to purr with contentment. Elita smiled. Chromia sighed with relief to know that Auri didn't mind the water, for Ironhide minded water intensely. Now she knew that if the two ever came in muddy, she'd only have difficultly ordering only one of them to the bathhouse, and not two.

"Washcloth?" Elita offered to Auri,

"Yes, thank-you," Auri took the cloth.

"And you can use my cleansing gel," Elita said, "It's specially formulated for pink armoring."

"Ooo…!" Auri accepted the proffered soap cube, "Oh, this is very neat! Thank-you." She looked up at the femme commander with shy admiration.

"You're welcome." Elita said warmly. ::You're so lucky, my friend, to have such a sweet little one:: she told only Chromia over the intercom..

::I know. I wish you could have one, too.::

::The time will come.:: She smiled at her friend across the room as she closed the comm. line.

"Was I interrupting something when I came in?" Auri asked as she began removing some armor to wash away the mud that had gotten under it.

"Just femme talk." Chromia said. "Y'know: cannons, old times, and mechs."

"It was mechs this time." Moonracer said.

Auri giggled. "You femmes are so silly." She said adoringly.

"Watch your mouth; some day you'll find the right mech, and then you'll be silly, too." Chromia said, winking at her.

"Whatchya think about the twins?" Moonracer asked. Chromia gave the sniper a warning look.

"They're awesome." Auri said, "Yeah, but I would not want either one of them for the rest of my life."

"They are not… overly mature as of yet." Chromia said. "Eh?"

Auri giggled. "Nope. But they're fun for hanging around with. –unless they toss me in the mire-. We had a good time. They-"

A knock sounded on the bath-house door, "My'Lita-Love!" Optimus Prime's voice called, sounding playful.

"Oh! Don't you come in here, Optimus Prime!" Elita warned. Auri gasped at the thought of that and grabbed her armoring to snap it back in place.

"That's nota very nice way to speak to a Pri-ime." He bantered, and they heard him lean on the door.

"Get lost!" Elita yelled, her face heating up. "I'm not the only femme in-! Auri's in here!"

There was a brief pause on Optimus Prime's side. Moonracer and Chromia endeavored to not burst out giggling like a couple over-wired younglings.

"Okay, I'll get lost, but y'better come an' fi-ind me." Optimus didn't sound at all daunted.

"I will! Now GO!" Elita ordered, pressing her hands to her face.

Chromia and Moonracer listened until Prime's heavy foot-falls faded away, and then they collapsed into a fit of laughter.

"Oh, stop it!" Elita protested, embarrassed, but that only made them laugh the harder. "Stop…!"

Auri reached over and patted the femme commander's arm. "It's okay," she said, "You don't need to be self-conscious on my account, Elita. Why, I live with Ironhide and Chromia, and they kiss every time they meet." She exaggerated a little for effect.

"Aw," Elita hugged her, "Thanks. I guess you're right..."

Auri nodded encouragingly, "It's sweet of you to be concerned about me though."

"Oh-oh… Chromia," Elita said, hugging the little femme again. "I'm gonna kidnap her,"

"I would have a fit if you did that," Chromia said, smiling as Auri hugged the femme commander tightly.

Elita smiled as she let Auri go. "Oops, you're missing some of the mud here." She said. Auri twisted around, but Elita gently took a cloth to the bright little door-wings.

"I'm not a sparkling…" Auri protested lightly, loving the attention. She needed the attention, too, although she didn't know it.

"Aw, nothing about that." Elita said, "The other femmes and I always give each other a hand."

"Hmph. My old guardian was very hands-off."

"Well, she-"

"He." Auri corrected.

"HE?" Chromia yelled, surprised.

"Yes. I had a 'he' for a guardian."

"Mmmaybe that would explain it…?" Elita asked. Chromia was preoccupied now. If Auri was used to a mech guardian, she reasoned, that would explain why the little femme-ling always ran to Ironhide instead her, Chromia. Auri always went to Ironhide first when she was worried, always sought his opinion first, always asked him the "why" questions first, always went to him first for everything.

"He could have at least hugged me once." Auri said, referring to her old guardian, her head lowering in a pout.

"Aw, bright spark, I'm sorry…" Elita said softly. She darted a quick look to see how Chromia was taking it. Chromia seemed deep in thought.

"It's okay." Auri tried to smile. "It was a long time ago."

Elita brushed the side of her face. "It doesn't make any difference how long ago it was; it still affects you. You come see me if you ever want a hug when Chromia and Ironhide aren't around."

"Thank-you. I will." Auri promised, her smile coming back. "You're so sweet."

Elita grinned. "The 'Cons wouldn't believe that. Thank-you, though. I'm here for you."

The room slipped into a slightly awkward silence as Chromia consulted the other two older femmes over the intercom.

"Um… Auri?" Chromia said after a moment.

"Yes?" Auri answered, not expecting much, though wondering about Chromia's slightly uncertain tone.

"This mech guardian of yours… did he, ah… explain things to you?"

Auri shrugged and glanced around, "I… what kind of things?"

"Ah, well…" Chromia shot a quick glance at her friends to gain support; Moonracer nodded. Chromia went on, "See… a femme creator or guardian usually explains certain things to a femme-ling… while a mech one explains certain things to a mech-ling…"

Auri looked around. "Do you know what she's talking about?" she asked Elita and Moonracer.

"She wants to know if you know where sparklings come from." Moonracer said while Elita looked slightly abashed.

"Oh!" said Auri, smiling, "I know that! Why, they come from the bright star near the Butterfly Nebula."

Elita hid her face, and Moonracer blinked. Chromia's face sort of froze.

Auri started giggling, "Gotchyah!" she said, grinning at the elder femmes. "I do know where they come from. Medical nursing was among the things I studied, and there was a whole module on that –sparking and sparklings and such."

The elder femmes shared an all-around sigh of relief.

"Okay." Chromia said, managing to regain the capacity of speech before the others did.

"I had planned to be an under-medic here when I came," Auri added, "But I highly doubt that would work out with Ratchet."

"I'm afraid you're probably right about Ratchet." Moonracer said, regretfully. Ratchet was even a little finicky about letting First Aid and her assist him in Med-Bay unless it was an emergency.

"Certainly, though, there's something else you can find to do if you want an occupation." Elita said.

"Oh, I do want an occupation." Auri said, "Just part time though," she sent Chromia a reassuring smile, knowing how much her femme guardian loved having her around.

The femmes talked some more as they finished in the wash. Then they dried off, tossing the towels in the bin when they were done.

"See you later, myfemmes." Elita said, "I've got a Prime to find."

Auri giggled. "Oh. Well, see you later."

"Go get'im," Moonracer said, grinning. "I just have a cannon to clean and a set of twins to hunt down for tampering with the Energon dispenser."

"Ooooo…" Said Chromia. "You need back up? I had some trouble with that, too."

"Sure!"

"Just turn them over to Prowl when you catch them." Elita-One commanded. "Don't weld them to anything."

"Aw!" Moonracer groaned.

"Understood." Chromia said, "See you later, MyAuri." She knelt and hugged the little femme.

"See you later." Auri said. She watched as the older femmes transformed and drove off. It had been fun talking and washing with them. She smiled to herself as she walked away from the bath house. Tampering with the Energon dispenser? That was a little immature, but whatever; the twins weren't old yet. And they were lots of fun. She hoped Prowl wouldn't brig them. If he did, she wouldn't get to have dinner with them.

'Prowl!' Auri smiled suddenly. She had an idea. She could seek employment under Prowl. With her specialized secretarial training, she would be an asset to his department. Yes, filing and programs, and some plain old paper-work stuff, along with some patrolling would be pretty cool. Yeah! She could add a patrol car paint scheme to her chameleon armoring system and add a siren on top. That would be awesome.


	13. Chapter 13, Trouble and Tantrums

Okay, MisCrasyaboutfanfics, you wanted to see what happened to the twins; I hadn't even thought about that when you mentioned it, but I've added their misadventure in now. (And btw, that has sparked more ideas for another chapter later on, so you're in for some more twin craziness... :) Yeah! XD ;)

This chapter gets a little dramatic and angsty… I hope it won't upset anybody.

Even if it does, _please_ just keep reading, and the next chapter will make everything all better.

And I **promise**that Chapters 15, 16, 17, and 18, will be much lighter and full of fun things. I've already written them, I just need to polish them. What's in them? Well… Auri (of course), and a whole lot more of the twins (grab your bomb-shelters, my friends), Mirage (oh, yeah, watch out for Mirage!), some delicious pranking (who shall the mark be?), and more of Prowl (Ooooh, let's overload his logic processors, shall we?). It's gonna be fun!

Okay. But first we must get through this rough place…

* * *

Chapter 13

**Trouble and Tantrums**

The twins had gone to the bathhouse as well, but they had been in and out before Auri had even reached the bathhouse. Their showering practice had been dubbed "blitzkrieg-bathing," for they took all of 5.53 minutes to get clean, dry off, and get out. Somehow Ironhide managed to cut that time down to 4.98 for himself even though he was bigger than the twins… It probably had to do with his aversion of water.

Patrol had gone well for the twin mechs; they were done now and were sauntering down a road in bipedal mode, wondering how they were going to pull off something. It was like this: Prowl had compiled a list of "appropriate" music that was to be played for liaisons who were put on hold on the telephone. Thus, the twins were considering hacking that program and inserting their own list of songs into the file. That said though, Prowl would find out rather quickly if they did it the easy way. They had to figure out a way to disguise the songs so Prowl wouldn't find them out at one glance.

Sunny and Sides were conspiring on how to do this when Sunny's sensors suddenly gave him a warning twinge.

"Sides, methinks someone's stalking us." Sunny murmured, not changing his stance.

"Yeah… so do I…" Sides took a surreptitious glance around and then stiffened. "Two o'clock from my position, Chromia and Moonracer are standing a little too nonchalantly by a building and polishing their weapons."

"Uh-oh… You think they were the ones we got with the Energon dispenser?"

"A fair guess."

"Great. Nothing like pranking femmes and receiving their revenge." Sunny muttered sarcastically.

"Right. So, here's the question: Do we run and let Prowl brig 'n' ticket us for speeding, or do we run until they catch us and do... uh... do whatever their planning to do to us?"

"Sideswipe? Are you stupid? We run. Prowl may be strict, but he's logical. Them femmes? They're pure emotion. Wham!" he smacked his hand with his fist.

"Well, I was just asking; I mean, we can't go out with Auri if Prowl has us in the brig."

"We can't go out with Auri if her femme guardian welds us to the flag-pole either, though! And the brig is less painful."

"True. Then we'd better run now; they're moving in."

The mechs dropped into car-mode faster than one could say "Decepticon femme," and they shot off, fleeing as if for their lives.

"Hunt's on!" Moonracer whooped gleefully, starting to transform.

"Hang on a sec.," Chromia said, stopping her. "We scared them; now they're speeding. We can just let Prowl take them down for speeding, and then we'll make our complaint about the Energon dispenser."

"Aww…"

"I know." Chromia sympathized, "I love a good hunt as much as you do, but you heard Elita. Besides, last time we took down the twins, they filed harassment charges and we spent twelve hours in the brig."

Moonracer paused, trying to remember which time that had been.

"Don't remember, eh?" Chromia asked.

"Ummmm… no?"

"Okay, well, so you don't. But _I_ do! Have Ironhide chew you out for ten minutes straight, and you won't forget anything!"

"He chewed you out for harassing the twins?" Moonracer thought that sounded rather unlike the trigger-happy mech.

"Nope." Chromia replied, shaking her head. "He chewed me out for not being by his side that night."

"Ahhhh… got it."

"I heard Prowl's siren." Chromia interjected, a mischievous smile spreading over her face. "Let's go add to the twins' charges."

"You said it, femme!"

OoOOoOoOoOOoO

Alone in her guardians' quarters, Auri sighed as she stretched. "I think the twins misaligned something when they sent me down that second hill." She said aloud. "Whatever. A few stretches should take care of it." She practiced a few dance stretches.

Sitting on the couch, she took out a data-pad and began studying the laws and regulations of NEST Base. If she was going to get a position under Prowl, she would have to be completely prepared. She wanted to show Prowl that she was qualified and knowledgeable as well as willing. She knew she was mostly qualified, and fairly knowledgeable, but she knew Prowl had a very, very, very, very high standard. According to the twins, it was impossibly high, but she knew they were exaggerating.

After a good deal of study, her processors were slightly bogged down, and she was feeling rather drowsy. She decided to take a fifteen minute break before going out to meet the twins. Once she thought about it, she was feeling almost unpleasantly tired.

"I'll need to get a fresh start on these ordinances tomorrow," she murmured, "But I'm too tired and fed up with details to handle any more now. This was a lonnnnng day."

She flipped the data-pad into subspace, noticing that Ironhide's mini-canons were still there. "Oh." She took them out, holding them gingerly and looking at them with distaste. "Gross. I'll clean you tomorrow." She set them on the table and went to clean her hands. It was then that Ironhide came in. He stopped and frowned at the state of his mini weapons. He'd lent them to Auri on the condition that she would clean them when she was done. They weren't supposed to be sitting on the table all covered with mud.

Auri came back into the room. "Hello, Ironhide," she greeted.

"Hello. Did you have a good time with the twins?" he asked,

"I had a very good time. I'm going to meet with them now for Energon."

"Are you?" he had a bad feeling about what was going to happen next, but he went on. "When were you going to clean the mini-cannons?"

"Tomorrow," she said, rather dismissively.

"Tomorrow? Auri. It has been well over four hours since you came off the challenge course." He pointed out gently, "What have you been doing?"

She thought him a little odd at that moment, but proceeded to answer. "First I went and washed. Then I met some people and stopped to talk with them. Then I finally caught Mirage and apologized and got things straightened out with him. Then I watched the Aerial-Bots practice their flying maneuvers and chatted with Power-Glide. Then,"

"Auri, you've have more than enough time to clean these cannons. When I said, 'when you're done with them,' I meant ASAP." He admonished, "You should have done it right after washing."

"Oh, really." She said a little crossly, "I doubt that was necessary."

"Cannons should not be left muddy. The longer they are left muddy, the worse it is for them,"

"Really. They're harder than most earth metal; what's a little dirt?" she was very tired and felt like arguing instead of cleaning cannons.

"It's more about your promise to me than about the dirt. You're going to clean them now."

"No way! I'm going out with the twins!" She snapped, answering back at him.

He shook his head. "Nope."

"I told them I would meet them, I will meet them."

"Before that, you told me you would clean these little cannons when you were finished using them. You've not done that yet."

"They're cannons! They don't know that!"

"That's not the point. You said you would clean them, so they must be cleaned." He said firmly.

"If it's that important, _YOU_ clean them! I'm going with the twins!"

"Auri." He said in a tone that most Bots would have obeyed immediately. Auri just looked sulky. "You are going to clean them, regardless of any previous engagement you may have made. You told me you would clean these little cannons when you were finished using them, and I am holding you to that."

She glared at him and tried to go around him.

"No." he said firmly and reached to move her towards the table.

(Operation "Get-My-Way" phase one, tantrum: commence).The instant Ironhide's hand touched her shoulder, Auri howled furiously and threw herself down on the floor to kick, scream, and flail her arms.

"_NOOO! AHHH WAHHH-AHHH-AHHH OHHH…!" _

Ironhide's jaw dropped in amazement, but he quickly recovered himself.

"No, you don't." He ordered, jerking her up off the floor. That had always stopped previous sparklings in their tracks. Auri, however, increased her vocal output by 37 % and thrashed around even more. Ironhide's optics widened as he realized that he was dealing with a well practiced tantrum-thrower. She was a little pro regarding tantrums. This had to stop immediately.

He plopped her on the couch, "Stop that." He told her, and that had no effect on her. He caught her wrists, and put a hand over her mouth. In all this he was careful to not hurt her. She kicked, and he pinned her feet against the couch with his leg. He hated immobilizing her in such a manner, but he knew he couldn't let her get away with such behavior, and sheer force was the only way at present.

"You listen to me." He said quietly. She couldn't move more than two inches. "You will not get your way if you throw a tantrum. Quite the opposite; I will discipline you."

Auri stopped fighting and stared at Ironhide with bewilderment. Tantrums had always worked. As far back as she could recall, tantrums had gotten her whatever she wanted, or gotten her out of what she didn't want.

"_Pick up your toys."_

"_No! Don't want to!" _

"_Yes. Now."_

"_NOOO! AHHH WAHHH-AHHH-AHHH OHHH…!" _

Her guardian had sighed and picked up the toys.

"_I want sweet Energon!" _

"_No." _

"_YES!"_

"_No. You may have regular." _

"_NOOO! AHHH WAHHH-AHHH-AHHH OHHH…!" _

Her guardian had sighed and poured her some sweet Energon.

Her tantrum now had caused Ironhide to act most disturbingly. He hadn't backed off or blinked. He had stopped her and warned her. He probably hadn't been taught how to respond to tantrums. He needed to be broken.

"Do you comprehend?" Ironhide asked. He spoke more gently this time, having seen the confusion in his little charge's optics. However, Auri heard the softer tone and gained a sense of victory; it would still work. Her already compassionate guardian just needed a little training.

(Phase two, bluff retreat: commence). She didn't move at all or try to speak; she just looked at him with widened, sad optics. Looking pitiful was key. And it worked after a several moments. He removed his hand from her mouth, and when she remained still, he released her hands and unpinned her feet.

She still didn't say anything. It always worked to make a guardian feel bad. She lowered her chin, knowing from the past that this particular motion affected Ironhide.

"Auri," Ironhide said, sounding a little disorientated. Yes, this was a good lesson plan. It was working. He reached out to touch her shoulder.

(Phase three, tantrum two: commence). She rolled off the couch and began the second tantrum.

"No." Ironhide wasn't as gentle this time as he dumped her on the couch and immobilized her a second time. "Aurion!" he said, "No. That doesn't work here."

She scowled in frustration. He was awfully persistent. (Phase four, bluff submission: commence). She scrunched up her face and started whimpering, shedding a few tears. She needed to draw him off.

"Auri…" Ironhide sounded pained. "Don't do this," he asked, backing off as desired.

(Phase five, tantrum three: commence). She flopped off the couch for tantrum number three, but she never hit the floor; Ironhide caught her before she touched the ground and immobilized her with near-frightening force.

"_No. You shall __not__ do that __**again, Aurion-Blaze**__."_ He ordered, and she knew she wasn't going to do it again. "Perhaps your former guardian allowed you to throw tantrums, and perhaps she gave into them, but you are with Chromia and me now, and we do not, under any circumstance, give in to tantrums; we discourage them. They are Decepticon-ish in nature as their intent is to bend another to one's will through manipulation. Is that clear? –if you scream again, I will smack you."

He removed his hand from her mouth, and she gave him an ugly look. He had stripped her of one of her best weapons. She hated that.

"Auri." He expected an answer.

"Yes'rrrrr." She growled and didn't look at him.

She would have to try something more subtle. Just plain crying might work. (Phase six, crocodile tears: commence). She scrunched up her face and started whimpering, shedding a few tears.

"No, crying won't work either." he spoke firmly. Then he picked her up and seated her on a stool at the table with the cannons before her. "Like it or not, you will clean the cannons." He told her. Her tactics weren't working.

(Operation "Get-My-Way": failed). She scowled. It wasn't fair. She glared at Ironhide darkly. Maybe he had won round one. But she was going to get him in the end. It might take a while, but she would.

* * *

I feel bad showing her bratty side! Like it's a betrayal or something…! :/


	14. Chapter 14, Resolution

AH! I finally get to post this chapter!

Okay, just so this is clear, so nobody freaks out when they read paragraph 20, I am against abuse, but I think discipline is necessary at times.

Oh, I have something fun at the end of this chapter! :)

* * *

Chapter 14

**Resolution**

Ironhide felt like a Decepticon was tearing his whole emotional core up into pieces to cruelly render him incapable of action. It hurt, **hurt**. He only wanted Auri to do the right thing, to keep her promise, and then he could let her go spend a nice evening with her friends. But he couldn't do that with her fighting him, though. '_Oh, Auri; please let me help you…!_' He pleaded silently.

Talking to her hadn't worked; she had been too dead-set on screaming her head off at him. Now she was giving him the silent treatment. No conversation would happen while she was too furious to process his words. He knew that. She needed to cool down a little bit. He seated himself on the couch and took out a data pad to work on. At least, he meant to _look_ like he was working on it. He had to coax her to get off the defensive; he hoped taking the whole focus off of her would do that. He would let her calm down, and then she should be more open to reason.

Auri remained silent and glared at her guardian. He would have to speak first, she decided. It was clear that he meant for her to work on cleaning the cannons while he worked on his report. That wasn't gonna happen.

After a few moments, he glanced over at her. She gave him a nasty look.

"I'm impervious to Decepticon eyes." He said, smiling a little. He was sad behind that little, false smile, but Auri didn't note it, so wrapped up in her selfish desires was she.

Ironhide pretended to work on a report for three minutes. Auri sat and sulked, scowling at him from time to time. She really hated how he'd responded. She was furious with him. She wasn't going to speak to him. That would make him feel bad, for he loved to talk with her.

She ventured to peek at him.

"You could still join the twins _if_ you cleaned those cannons." He said; he sounded a little like he didn't enjoy having to break up some younglings' dinner-date.

She crossed her arms and hunched a shoulder, flicking up a door-wing and looking the other way. If he didn't enjoy it, that was good. That would start to break him into giving in. He looked over at her for a moment. She gave a miffed hiss to inform him that she wasn't budging. He looked back to his data-pad, starting to consider why this wasn't working.

Auri kept on sulking. It took stamina to break a guardian. But it was worthwhile once they were trained. It had certainly paid off with her former guardian, a much more open-minded (so to speak) Transformer. Ironhide was difficult. Stubborn.

She kept up the silence. She didn't look at him. She continued scowling. She felt her Energon levels getting low.

She kept up the silence. She didn't look at him. She continued scowling. She wished he had never started this.

She kept up the silence. She didn't look at him. She continued scowling. She wanted Chromia to come back and set him straight.

She kept up the silence. She didn't look at him. She continued scowling. She knew Chromia would side with him. Blast Chromia. Blast him.

Ironhide suddenly realized that this sulking was another stage in her tantrum: a passive stage. This was just as bad, if not worse, than the active tantrum. An active tantrum was something that lacked dignity; once she got a little more self-conscious, she wouldn't want to throw a big fit. The passive tantrum could be carried out without drawing much attention from others, and she could use it without humiliating herself in front of an audience. She was already in the habit of throwing tantrums, apparently; if she started into the more refined phase of passiveness, then there would be all kinds of ways that things could go wrong. As much as it would hurt, he would have to act out more aggressively against her behavior. He couldn't let her do this to herself.

"Auri," Ironhide said. "I think I've been a little unfair."

She shifted to look at him, and little flicker of triumph flashed her optics.

"I let you sulk and stew. That wasn't fair; by doing so, I let you drop to a lower standard than is set by the Autobots."

Her triumph shattered. That 'unfair' hadn't been the unfair she was thinking of!

"I apologize for doing that, and I will not let that happen in the future." He continued softly. "Now, either we will talk about this like reasonable, mature Transformers, or I will turn you over my knee and deal with you as with a bad-mannered sparkling. For you are behaving like one. I love you and cannot let you act this way."

She twitched her prided door-wings up and back in furious indignation, and her optics glowed darkly. How dare he even…! She was going to throw his stupid little mini-cannons at him!

"I love you," He reiterated softly, "I can't let you act this way and do this injustice to yourself. This behavior will hurt in the end, and I don't want that for you." He whispered.

Auri dropped her head on the table and started to cry as the gentleness of his words broke through her weakening anger. Fighting had put a strain on her emotional core, and the soft words had penetrated better than the louder ones from earlier. She suddenly realized how terribly she'd been behaving.

Ironhide came over to her. "Auri…" She heard the guardedness is his voice. It made her cry more, for she knew she'd broken some of his trust with her bluffing.

"I'm sorry, Ironhide…." She choked out, her voice muffled. "I'm sorry. I _am_ behaving like a bad-mannered sparkling."

He made no movement and did not say anything. He sensed she was speaking from her deepest being, but he wanted her to work through the issue herself.

"I am tired, and low on Energon, and sore…" she sobbed, "And I r-r-really hate being told to clean things…"

"Uh-huh?" he prompted as she trailed off. He was ready to cuddle her and make everything all better.

"I'm sorry," she said, picking her head up to look at him. "I l-love you, too … I shouldn't have done that to you."

He nodded.

"Please forgive me? I'll try to not do that again." She promised, pushing away the tears that kept falling.

"Forgiven, my little one." He said earnestly. She held out her arms, and he accepted the hug immediately, picking her up and holding her close. "Very much forgiven." He murmured to her.

"Thank-you…" she whispered, nestling her head against his.

He held her and rubbed her back comfortingly with his thumb.

All was quiet for a little while, and then Auri murmured tentatively, "Ironhide?"

"Yes, my little one?"

"You don't hate me for what I did?"

"I do not hate you for what you did." He replied fervently, "You were mean to me, that is true, but I love you with unconditional love: I love you simply because you are you and because you are my little one."

Auri couldn't find words with which to answer that wonderful statement. She hugged her guardian more tightly for a moment. She loved him so much. He did so much for her. He never gave up on her. How dreadful it was that she'd acted badly and hurt him because she was tired and cross.

Auri put her head up. "That was terrible of me," she said in a retrospective tone.

"Very much so." He agreed, smiling at her, glad that she was over that and ready to move on.

"I guess I just had a behavioral melt-down…" she admitted.

Ironhide nearly dropped her in his astonishment. "B-behavioral melt-down?" he wasn't sure whether to laugh or to wail. "Uh, little one, that was a full-blown series of temper tantrums."

"Oh…" she said, lowering her head thoughtfully, "My guardian termed it behavioral meltdown."

"Um… No. That was a series of temper tantrums." He murmured gently.

"He was rather permissive, I suppose…"

"Um, 'He'?"

"Yes. He. He wasn't a very confrontational Transformer." She said, looking up apologetically up at Ironhide.

"That was not good for you." He said with a regretful tone. "He unwittingly taught you to misbehave. You must unlearn that now." He told her gently.

She nodded her understanding.

"So, shall we try again?" he asked after letting her think for a couple more moments.

"Yes, please." She said meekly, nodding.

"Are you going to clean those mini-cannons?" he used a light, almost a play-acting tone.

She rubbed her optics with the back of her hand before answering with a renewed smile. "Yes, sir; right away."

"There's my good femme-ling." Ironhide said. He set her down on her stool at the table and handed her a cleaning cloth. She began cleaning the mini-cannons well, paying careful attention to details.

"I'd better get some Energon for you." He said after a watching her for a moment.

"Thank-you." She said with a soft tone. When Ironhide brought her the Energon, she drank it slowly but steadily, and then smiled up at him.

"Better?" he asked.

"Better." She confirmed, nodding her head.

Auri went back to cleaning the cannons. Ironhide came to sit beside her and brought out his one of his other cannons to polish. She smiled at him, happy that he wasn't leaving. He asked if she'd had a good time with the twins, and they talked quietly about a wide array of things from there. Their voices were quiet, for they were both rather tired, and the soft noise of metal clinking now a then as they worked made a gentle sound. It was peaceful and comfortable.

"Very good work there, my little one." Ironhide said with approval when Auri presented the thoroughly cleaned mini-cannons.

"I told you I knew all about cleaning guns." She said, content now. Knowing that her job had been well done made her happy, and knowing where the boundaries were gave her a quiet sense of security.

"Yes, you did." He said, smiling. He could tell she was nearly exhausted. He lifted her down and settled her on the couch. "Time for recharge now." He said gently. "I love you."

"I love you, too," she replied, smiling up at him. "Good night."

"Good night, my little one. Recharge well. I'm sure the twins will want another round of challenge course with you in the near future."

"Ha!" she retorted, drowsily. "I'll find something I _can_ beat them at. …hopefully." She muttered as she snuggled against the back on the couch. She sighed. "Sorry, Ironhide… sorry for being a brat after you've been so good to me."

"It's okay. I can handle it. I've looked after more troublesome sparklings before." He said, sitting down beside her to rub her back and tell her a story. He rubbed her back just below and between her wing doors.

"That feels good." She purred, "You can do that forever… Were there any femmes among your troublesome sparklings…?" she asked although she was very drowsy.

"No."

"Chromia…?"

"I said no femmes. You're lookin' for trouble." He said, smiling.

"I just want attention." She murmured, shifting.

"Attention, I will give, but no stories about Chromia. She would beam me if I did that without her permission."

Auri giggled sleepily. "Oaky… mm… Story now… please?"

"Yes," Ironhide said, glad that all was shifting back to normal. He had expected a large battle of the wills sooner or later; he was glad it was over now. So which story…?

"Ironhide?" Auri asked before he could decide.

"Yes, My Auri?"

"Did the other sparklings throw tantrums?"

Ironhide did a mental facepalm. Of course she would be curious about that. "Well, briefly."

"Briefly?"

"Well, one threw a tantrum for about three seconds, and the other for about four." He said, smiling. He knew that wouldn't satisfy her curiosity, so he went on. "Once I had the complete guardianship of a little, yellow-colored mech-ling. He was a war-time sparkling, and thus he'd been taught to be very obedient. But one day he got frustrated because he'd never gotten to be around his father or seen him much, and he told me, 'want see mine daddy.' It made me very sad, but I had to tell him no and that that wasn't possible. Well, I have no idea where the little mech gotten the idea to throw a fit, but he had somewhere. So he basically did what you did the first time, and I basically did what I did the first time – just scooped him up quickly and told him 'No, you don't.' Only he was little tiny and that startled him a whole lot more than it did you."

Auri smiled half-reflectively, half-sadly. She cuddled a little closer to her favorite guardian. He rubbed her back a little more, reminding her that it was okay.

Ironhide paused before continuing, "The little Bot squeaked in surprise and didn't try anything else bratty. After that, I cuddled him extra and comforted him, and that made him happy. Then he never tried throwing a fit again. He was always a sweet little Bot. Although… sneaking around was one of his favorite thing to do, and he liked to hide in small places just for the fun of it." Ironhide cocked his head to check on Auri's expression. It was peaceful, though tired, and he could see that she was enjoying the story about the other sparkling. Ironhide smiled and went on, "He loved to explore. I had a drawer once to store things in down low. And he climbed in, just out of curiosity, and then slipped into recharge. Well, by-and-by, somebot else came along and closed the drawer, meaning to pick up after 'messy Ironhide,' y'know? But she never suspected that the little Bot was inside."

"Oh, no!" Auri murmured softly.

"'Oh, no' is right. Well, he thought he was in a cave when he woke up and had a grand time, playing quietly. But _**I**_ practically had a fit myself. _**I**_ couldn't find him anywhere on base. I was getting really agitated after about an hour and a half of searching,"

"I bet…" Auri mumbled, knowing him.

"Yeah. Well, when I finally opened the drawer to grab a data-pad, the little Bot poked his head and chirped 'peek-a-boo' at me. Oh, yes, you giggle, but I hollered. '"PEEK-A-BOO!" What do you mean "Peek-a-boo!" when I've spent the last two hours tearing up base to find you?' He thought it was funny though, thought I was playing a game."

"Funny little Bot…"

"Yeah… We played many of games when I had the time. Hide-n-go-seek was one of his favorites. Only lots of the time when he was very little, he'd get distracted and start exploring other rooms. Anyway… he's a scout now, one of the best. His love of exploring never faded…" Ironhide reminisced for a few moments before looking down at his present precious youngling. She was in full recharge mode now. "May your rest be pleasant, my special little one." He whispered.

'_I guess I really shouldn't ever tell about the time other bot threw a tantrum as a sparkling._' Ironhide mused as he rose to go to his and Chromia's room. '_It was interesting, though.'_ He smiled to himself, a broad mischievous grin. He could really mess up some reputations if he told one-sixtieth of the things he knew. He wouldn't tell though. But he could remember.

_The small white sparkling with dark blue flame detailing scowled angrily for a second before beginning to stamp his feet and scream. _

"_What are you doing?" Ironhide demanded as he picked the little one up._

"_THA-WHOA-WING A TANT-WUHMMMM…!" _

"_Oh." Ironhide plopped the sparkling tummy-down on the table. "Well, don't." _

"_Don't?" The little bot echoed curiously, sitting up. He was calm now from being slightly confused. He'd always been a fairly calm little thing anyway. "Why?" He always wanted to understand the reason for something, too. He had a compelling desire it understand everything. _

"_Because it doesn't work." _

"_No-logical?" _

"_Nope. Not logical at all." _

"_Oh." He pondered that for a moment. (Tantrum- does not work- is not logical- failed procedure- do not repeat). "Okay. Down, please?" _

"_Yes, you may get down. Say thank-you." _

"_Dank-coo." He said happily as Ironhide set him back on the floor. (Saying 'Please'- Does work- must be logical- successful procedure- repeat as necessary)._

* * *

Hehe! Anybody care to guess who the other two sparklings were? (Hint: they are both adults now, and one has already appeared in this story. The other will show up later, but he's a pretty popular mech). *snickers with Ironhide* XD


	15. Chapter 15, Feel the Force

WHEEEE! XD There were FIVE reviews on ONE chapter! *does a super happy dance* Thanks so much you guys! That really, really made my day! (Hahaha! So, tantrums don't work on Ironhide, but they work for reviews, is that what it is?) ;)

Okay, the little yellow sparkling was Bumblebee. Sunny was a good guess, but he would have be with Sideswipe. (AH, those two a twins must have been awesome!)

The white sparkling with blue flames was Prowl. Yeah, I threw some people off with the flame detailing, but Prowl didn't always have a patrol car for his alt mode. But, dude, the thought of a sparkling Ultra Magnus or a sparkling Bluestreak put a grin on my face XD!

* * *

So…everybody knows what _Star Wars_ is, right? …Jedi, the Force, Yoda… etc.? If not, I apologize for any confusion that may result from the following chapter.

Rule Forty-Eight is not mine; Hummergrey came up with it, and it's featured in her awesome fic, _If an Autobot do NOT do the Following_, along with a hundred-plus other fantastic regulations and humorous stories to go along with them.

* * *

Chapter 15

**Feel the Force**

Auri ducked her head and looked away when she saw the twins the next morning, but they still came over.

"Hi…" she said, shyly, not wanting to broach the subject of why she didn't meet them last night.

"Hi," Sides replied, sounding rather uncomfortable.

"Ah… About last night…" Auri started. She knew she had to.

"We're sorry about that!" Sunny burst out. "I am really, really, really sorry! We had meant to be there; we WERE going to be there, _I promise,_ but we got thrown in the brig."

Auri gazed at her buddies in wonder.

"We would have intercommed you, but Prowl had our intercoms jammed so we couldn't carry on as usual." Sides added, "I sorry."

"Please forgive us? We didn't mean to stand you up."

"Aw…" Auri said. They were so pitiful, standing there with lowered heads and wide, searching blue optics. "It's okay, mechs. I forgive you both." She told them. "Erm. I wasn't there to meet you anyway." She said regretfully. "I got in trouble with Ironhide, and got kind of grounded for the evening."

"Sorry that happened." Sunny said.

"It's okay now." Auri said, smiling up at her friends. "Besides, we can hang out this evening, can't we?"

The twin heads went down again. "We have an off-base mission to go on…"

"Well… do we have this morning to hang out?" She asked, feeling like she was going to be deserted.

"Yeah… YES!" they perked up, "Yes, we do!"

"You wanna hit the race track?" Sunny asked.

"OOOOoooh! YEAH!" she squealed.

"Let's go then!"

OooOOoOoOOooO

The twins were off base now, somewhere in New Mexico or New York, she wasn't sure which. It didn't matter, really, for regardless of their location, she was still on NEST Base, and they weren't with her. That wasn't going to get her down, she was determined. It would have been more fun if she'd had them with her, or if they'd been able to take her with them, but she was going to accept it.

The time at the racetrack yesterday had been awesome. The twins had been very amusing all the time, but they'd been serious when it came to racing and being careful on the track. The three of them had made several practice runs on the straight part so she could get the feel of going high-speed on earth. It had been wonderful.

"They'll come back." she told herself.

"Besides, you can't always have them around." She reminded herself a couple moments later. A tear trickled down her cheek. She hated being left alone. She'd always been left alone before coming here.

Things were different here, though. She reminded herself that the Bots would always look out for her and that they were never intentionally leave her alone forever. She tried to cheer herself up.

That didn't work.

She tried preoccupying herself with study. She got a lot covered in her studies, but she still wasn't happy.

She sighed and looked around. She wasn't overcoming the sad feeling very well. It was hard. She wanted to run to Ironhide, but he was in a meeting. Chromia was in the meeting, too. So was Elita. Everyone was either in a meeting or not on base. Well, she knew that wasn't true, but it felt like it. She had met Arcee yesterday, and immediately liked the other pink-colored femme. Arcee had been the youngest femme on Base before Auri had arrived. But Arcee was out on a mission today just as the twins were.

Auri headed out to the race track and looked at it for a while. It had been exhilarating to go so fast yesterday. She smiled, remembering. The wind had been something wonderful as it whipped around her car sides.

She transformed into car mode and revved her engine. She would go again. That thought made her quite happy.

Revving her engine a couple more times, savoring the powerful sound, she pulled up to the starting line.

"On your mark. Get set. Go!" she took off, accelerating as fast as she could.

"Wooooh!" she squealed with glee when she hit a speed she'd never reached on earth before. Her worries and loneliness were left far behind.

She reveled in the pure pleasure of making the wind roar as she went. She whizzed past the line she and the twins had stopped at, never slowing.

She saw the curve ahead and grinned inwardly at it. She'd loved taking curves on Cybertron, tilting to balance herself and defying the slight pull that dragged all vehicles when they took sharp curves.

As she headed into the turn, she felt the pull, but it was far stronger than any she'd ever experienced. It was too strong, so strong, in fact, that it frightened her. She jerked away, turning to the side, but she hit the sidewall, and the impact sent her into the air.

"EEEE-!" she shrieked as her alt-mode flew. She transformed mid-air but was unable to get her feet under herself before she slammed into the earth.

"Owwwwwwww…! OW!" she screamed, starting to cry. Then she realized the pain wasn't all that intense, and she calmed down. She wriggled a little, cautiously, trying to ascertain if she'd broken anything. Nothing was broken. She sat up and scowled. That had hurt. She knocked some dirt out of her vambrace and tried to straighten the bent armor piece. That little stunt hadn't gone so well.

"Ow," she moaned. She must have dented her preliminary armor and her protoform, too.

"Are you alright?" Mirage asked, pulling up in car mode, a note of concern touching his slightly British accent.

"I am sitting on the green with dents in me. Of course I'm alright." She answered with a sarcastic brightness that she'd picked up from Chromia one day after Chromia had gotten mad at Ironhide.

"I'm sorry." Mirage said. He transformed quickly, "Perhaps I should have asked, are you terribly injured?"

She smiled up at him forgivingly. "No, I'm not. Just a little dented here and th- YOWCH!- ooo… there."

"Here, may I help you?" He offered courteously.

She nodded, and he sat down on the grass beside her, facing her. Gently, he loosened the dented vambrace and removed it, revealing her preliminary vambrace. He began to work the dent out of the preliminary vambrace, being careful to not cause her any further pain.

"It's not too bad," he told her.

She smiled at him, deciding not to tell him about her medical training, or that she could probably take his whole arm apart and re-assemble it in less time than it took to explain.

"You just have to be careful on the race track. You never know where -or when- a Jedi might show up." Mirage said, keeping his optics focused on his work.

"A Jedi?" Auri asked curiously.

"Oh, you don't know…?" he asked innocently.

"No… should I? What's a Jedi?" she asked, noting his serious manner.

"Oh! Why, yes, of course you should know. They are very powerful beings who use an energy source known as 'The Force.' They learn how to utilize it with their thoughts, and with training and practice, they are able to lift things into the air and hurl them as they choose."

"Whoa…"

"The greatest one, Yoda, is only a little being, the size of a human child, but he can lift solid stone columns that are larger than Optimus Prime."

"Are they dangerous, though?" she asked, feeling a sense of awe something so powerful.

His optics widened as they met hers. "Dangerous? Aurion, why, if the Decepticons and Jedi ever got together, we would be completely scrapped."

"Oh!"

"They're generally benign at present, for now. But they don't like being disturbed while sleeping! You probably just woke one up with your noisy racing and irritated it."

"Oooo…" she looked anxiously back at the track.

"They are swift. And they can…"

"_Mirage_!" Prowl snapped. Mirage and Auri both jumped, Auri snapping her battle mask in place instinctively. Her door-wings lowered with relief when she saw that it was only Prowl, and not a provoked Jedi. She and Mirage rose.

Prowl was standing practically over them, disapproval plain on his face. Auri felt her anxiety increase. "It is alright, Aurion." Prowl said less harshly.

Auri half-smiled uncertainly.

"Mirage," the stern note was back in Prowl's tone."What is rule forty-eight?"

"Ah…" Mirage hesitated as he looked it up. "Ah. 'Do not imply, state, or acknowledge any fantasy world of the humans as being REAL, including, but not limited to, _Star Trek, Babylon 5, Star Wars, Stargate, Alien, Predator, Close Encounters of the Third Kind, the Day the Earth Stood Still_ and related.'"

Prowl tilted his head, narrowing his optics. It was an ominous look.

"But, Prowl, I protest; that was for the humans' sake." Mirage said, "They would be prone to believing us because we are aliens oursss…" he fell silent under Prowl's cold look.

"There are no exceptions." Prowl stated. "Await me in my office."

"Yes, Prowl." Mirage answered, slightly deflated, and walked away.

Auri had completed an internet search regarding Jedi by then and was looking rather disgusted with her gullibility.

"I fell for it." She vocalized her thoughts.

"Understandably." Prowl replied, entering something into his data-pad.

"There was a 'force' there, but it was a natural occurrence called 'centrifugal force.'" She mused, still on the internet, scanning a science site.

"You have experienced it before; the occurrence does take place on Cybertron; however, it is much weaker due to…" Prowl paused; fine details were unnecessary for this type of discussion, "…different gravitational conditions." He finished.

"I understand now." She nodded her head. "It was silly of me to believe that."

"It was unkind of him to mislead you, a newcomer, in such a fashion." Prowl replied. He stooped to pick up the vambrace that she'd dropped and handed it to her.

"Thank-you." She said, smiling at the simple kindness of the gesture.

"You are welcome. Please excuse me now; I must continue with my patrol."

"Okay." She replied, smiling at him. "See you later. I am going to go watch _Star Wars_."

Prowl's optic ridges rose, but he said nothing. Auri smiled then transformed and zipped away.

OooOOoOoOOooO

Mirage was sitting on an Autobot couch in the lounge the next day, minding his own business, not bothering any-bot, or anybody. It was evening time, and two rounds of battle practice with Bluestreak and Blurr had been more than enough. It had been ridiculous. Those two both talked non-stop, and they didn't take turns; they talked over each other. And he never got two words in edgewise. What had he been processing when he agreed to go with them? Nothing. He had processed nothing.

He sighed and settled back, relaxing. He wouldn't do that again.

It was slightly pathetic, him being an elite Autobot and having to tolerate so much.

He would find another way engage Aurion-Blaze, though. Leading her on with talk of Jedi yesterday had been amusing. She'd been hanging on his every word, optics wide and riveted on him. It was worth a stern word from Prowl to have a femme paying attention to him. Flareup and Arcee tended to behave as if he was invisible all the time. He would talk to Aurion again; he would talk about real things though.

He shuttered his optics and rested his head on the back of the couch, smiling. He really need to go to his quarters and recharge. But he was too tired.

He started to doze.

Then someone boxed him lightly on the side of the face. "Hey,"

"What-?" he was too tired to unshutter his optics.

"Slander the Jedi, you did. A foolish robot, you are,"

His optics opened as he jerked his head up. Amusement welled up from his spark as he realized what was going on.

"Hahaha! Hi." Auri was there, hands on her hips, grinning like the cutest femme in the universe.

"H-hi." He replied, smiling through his utter drowsiness.

"Aw… you look beat." She was suddenly sympathetic and then concerned, "Was Prowl rough on you?" she asked, climbing up onto the couch to sit beside him.

"Ah, no. He just let me off with a warning. That sort of thing is no problem for me. I can handle that. What was rough was battle practice with two chatty 'Bots who never stopped running their mouths."

Auri smiled, thinking about 'Bots who ran their mouths.

Mirage suddenly remembered that he had realized that he should talk less about himself. "So… what are you up to?" it sounded awkward to him, but she didn't seem to mind.

"Oh, I'm not up to very much."

"Oh." He said. He mentally scrambled about trying to figure out how to engage Auri in a conversation. He was drawing a blank… He was exhausted…Then he realized that Auri was saying something.

"That _Star Wars_ is really popular among the humans." She was saying.

"Ah, yes… it really is." He wasn't sure where to go with that, but he would try. "It was one of the things I found out when studying human culture…" He trailed off; there he was saying 'I' again.

"Oh, that counts as Human Culture Studies?"

"Yes."

"Nice! Those did take a while to download and process."

"Y-you watched…?"

"All six episodes." She quipped. "They were really quite interesting. And the technological advances people made between the gap in the trilogies was impressive. The newer three look practically real."

Mirage smiled, battling drowsiness, "Yes… I was slightly confused when I first viewed the Phantom Menace."

"You're awfully tired. I'll leave you to recharge."

"Alright. It was nice talking to you." He said, sincerely, "Um, we should try it again, some time."

"Okay." She replied amicably. "Live long, and prosper." She said, holding her hand up in the Vulcan peace sign.

Mirage mimicked the gesture, laughing a little, "That's actually from Star Trek, not Star Wars."

"I know; I found it while looking around at space sci-fi. It's also popular."

"I know. I really think… uh. What did you think of it?"

"It was interesting. The computers gave me a laugh. Hey, I have to go; the twins are back."

"Alright."

She giggled. "Watch out for Romulans." She cautioned as she left.

Mirage chuckled. Maybe they could talk about fictitious things. That would be cool…

Mirage drifted off into recharge.

The next morning, however, Mirage was not happy in the least.

::I have a serious complaint to make.:: Mirage sent over the intercom to Prowl. Moments later, Prowl was sending an intercom message to Auri.

::Report to my office, please.:: Prowl

::I shall immediately.:: Aurion-Blaze.

Auri went quickly to Prowl's office and stepped in. "You called for me?" she asked, not sure what to expect. Her systems were running a little faster than usual from apprehension. Prowl, Prowl himself had summoned her. Why, though? She hoped she hadn't done something bad without realizing it.

"Yes, I called for you." Prowl said, setting aside a data-pad. "I needed to ask you about something."

She nodded and he went on. "Mirage reports that last night while he was in recharge somebot painted him to look like a... an… 'X-Wing Star Wars fighter ship,' even going so far as to adhere an 'R2D2' head to his trunk with super glue."

Auri clamped both of her hands over her mouth to keep from laughing as he finished. She knew she should be shocked and horrified at such a thing, and she felt a little bad for her new friend, but the thought of the _Star Wars_ fan being painted like an X-Wing was too funny.

Prowl gave her a stern look. "Did you do execute this prank?"

She shook her head vigorously, hands still over her mouth.

Prowl narrowed his optics. He was not pleased with this answer. She had motive, and she was one of the few Bots who knew that Mirage was a _Star Wars _fan.

"Mirage…" Auri started, but started giggling again. She sobered and tried a second time. "Mirage and I are on friendly terms now. I would not pull a prank on him."

Prowl folded his hands on his desk and leaned forward a little bit. "Do you know who might?"

She hesitated for a second. "Well… I think the twins might have done it. They had asked me what I'd been doing, and I ended up telling them about what Mirage did."

Prowl tipped his head downwards, "I see. Thank-you. That will be all." He dismissed her.

Auri swept a look around Prowl's office. It was neat and impeccably clean. Everything had order. She would definitely like working here. She smiled as she left. Then she frowned. She had to find those twins!

"TWINS!" she called, nearing one of their favorite hiding places, "TWINS!"

"Hiyah!" Sunny said, coming up with Sides.

"Did you paint Mirage and stick an R2D2 on him?"

They grinned. "Sure we did, the jerk. He's not gonna get away with just a warning for frightening you."

"But we made up after that, and we're friends." She protested. "I told you that."

"Yeah, well. He can consider it a warning for anything else he might try." Sides said.

"He not gonna try anything." Auri said firmly. "Anyway. _**I**_ got called into Prowl's office for your prank."

"Aw! We're sorry!"

"But I told Prowl that you probably did it."

The twins faces froze. "Y… y…. y'did?"

"Uh-huh." She nodded. "He asked if I knew who might have, and I wasn't about to lie about anything."

The twins cleared their vocal processors uneasily. Here was something they 'd not thought of before: a revenge prank backfiring on a friend and the friend pointing Prowl directly to them.

"Ah, Auri… oops. Prowl's calling. We'll talk later."

"Okay, you crazy mechs. See you later."

Auri shook her head as they drove off. They were good friends. A little misdirected, but good.

* * *

Nice, eh? If you go to Google images and search "star wars x-wing car," you can get an idea of what the twins did.


	16. Chapter 16, Debacle

That was fun, revealing Mirage's favorite fandom! –And pranking him was fun, too! XD I'm glad some of you liked it.

Guess what: I own the song that Auri sings in this chapter! Yes! I made up a song. I actually wrote it during the Fall 2010 semester. I was in a literary class in college, and we were reading Shakespeare's _Othello_. I had seen some actors doing a parody of Shakespeare one time, and they had preformed a rap of _Othello._ It was crazy! -I never listen to rap, but I went on YouTube to see the performance again, and that somehow that sparked this Transformers rap.

* * *

Chapter 16

**Debacle**

Auri stretched her arms and tucked her head. So much studying was a little strenuous at times. She was probably overdoing it a little bit, she realized, but it was very important. She'd already covered quite a bit of the history and cultures. The wide diversity of the various civilizations and customs was fascinating. And the many histories were interesting, albeit sad a times. But what history did not have sadness?

She had also been studying the NEST Base codes, laws, and regulations extensively in preparation for asking Prowl if she could work under him. She was feeling very confident about the amount of knowledge she'd attained.

Her research paper regarding the law enforcement at NEST Base and three improvements that could be made regarding the speed limit issues was complete now. It seemed like it was perfectly done. She had gone over it so many times and checked it, leaving out nothing that needed to be included. She had shared it with Chromia, and the older femme had pronounced it "formidable and well-done." Auri was satisfied with it, but she decided to let it sit before she read it again. Then she would present it to Prowl the next morning. Hopefully, it would impress him, and then he would be open to giving her a position in his office.

For now she decided to take a break, look for something less serious to study. Something fun…

OoOOooOooOOoO

Optimus Prime and Ironhide entered Ironhide and Chromia's quarters, quietly discussing a serious issue. They stopped short in surprise at what they saw. Auri was dancing, so completely absorbed in her choreography that she didn't notice them.

Then Ironhide's optics flashed with horror as the little femme began singing.

"There once was a **'Con** – his name was Mega**tron**." She rapped as she moved to make a 'C' and an 'M'.

"He liked to** rule**, and he liked Ener**gon**." She had other hand motions, and she moved her feet and hips and shoulders and door-wings… and everything.

"He had to watch his **back** – ev'ry single **hour**,

'Cause greedy little **Starscream** would try to take his** power**.

/

He tried to smash the **'Bots**, but they wouldn't be** beat**,

And his **'Cons** ran a**way**, so he yelled "RE**TREAT**!"

/

Oh, watch out '**Con;** Prime'll take yah **on,**

And kick yah **all** over Cyber**tron**.

/

He came down to **earth**, and he meant to make it **rubble**,

But **Prime **came a**long** to…" she stopped when she spun around and saw Prime. "…Oooooo…." She trailed off and fell silent.

"To what…?" Prime asksed. His battle mask was engaged to hide his expression.

"To, um, save it from his trouble." She answered, suddenly wondering if she was going to be in trouble herself.

"Ah, I see." Prime said mildly.

"Well, you mechs look like you've been talking business, so I'll just clear out and study in a hanger… lounge… common area… place." She stumbled around for the word as she collected several data-pads. "See you later."

They stepped aside to let her escape.

"Whoa." Ironhide said once the door was closed behind her.

"That was interesting…" Prime disengaged his battle mask. An amused smile was playing at the corners of his mouth.

"Interesting? I'm wondering if her studies should be a little more structured." Ironhide, as her guardian, was a little disturbed.

"Why? She's learning well and much."

"But, much what? Rap… Optimus!"

"She showed discretion." Prime told his friend. "She didn't include any illicit words or rude, indecent gestures. And her body movements were not suggestive of anything inappropriate."

"Ha? If Chromia moved like that..."

"Chromia could shift her position half an inch and you'd be looking." Prime pointed out. "I believe Auri is sensible enough not to do anything indecent."

"Okay. But if I catch her making a show of herself, I will put a swift end to it!" Ironhide vowed protectively.

"I would not expect you to do anything less. I have the upmost confidence in you, Ironhide. You know that." Prime told his old friend, still smiling.

"You like it that she put you in the song!"

"Well…"

"OPTIMUS-!"

OoOOooOooOOoO

Fleeing her guardians' quarters, Auri was not happy with herself.

"Oh… dear. That was so, not, cool. … and Prime of all 'Bots had to come in and see me! … and hear me! Oh, woe!" Auri fussed aloud. She tried to stack the data-pads on her arm as she walked. "Oh, no, really… Why can't I do things the simple w- OW!" She ran into some-bot and stumbled backwards before completely losing her balance and sitting down hard. That hurt. She looked up to see Prowl. He had turned and was gazing down at her with a blank expression. Inwardly Auri was screaming, 'NOOO! NOT PROWL! I'd rather crash into any-bot else on the whole base that Prowl! Now he'll think I'm clumsy!'

Prowl leaned over and offered his hand to help her up.

She wanted to scramble away and run. But she took his hand, and he pulled her up. "I'm -I am- really sorry, Prowl. I was preoccupied." She said, backing away.

"So I see." He said, kneeling to pick up the fallen data-pads.

"Ah, not with those as much as with… nevermind." She put a hand over her face. Of course telling him that she was running away from Prime wasn't going to help her cause.

"With what?" Prowl asked, rising. When an Autobot clammed up, that was when he wanted to know what was going on.

"Mmmm… just a little debacle." Auri answered and put the side of her finger to her mouth, wondering how to get out of this conversation. She really wished this hadn't happened now. She was almost ready to apply for that job, and this could really mess things up.

"Which was…?"

Auri then realized that the Second-in-Command wouldn't stop until he had what he wanted.

Withholding information was certainly not the way to get on his good side. And she would have to have his favor if she was going to work for him. "Well," said she, "Prime and Ironhide came in while I was singing a song. And the song went like this: '_There once was a '__**Con**__, his name was Mega__**tron**__, / He liked to __**rule**__, and he liked Ener__**gon**_.'" She rapped, inadvertently swaying a little to the beat she'd created. "_'He had to watch…_'"

Prowl's door-wings twitched up, and his face went completely blank, his optics flickering then dimming out.

Auri stopped. "Prowl..?" she asked, uncertain about this reaction. He didn't respond, but his form swayed.

"Uh… oh…"

::Ratchet, there's a problem with Prowl. He just… locked up or something…?.:: Auri sent over the intercom.

::Logic processor overload,:: Ratchet replied, ::Give me your co-ordinates; I'll be there ASAP.::

Auri gave the co-ordinates, and then she tipped Prowl over carefully, leaning him against a street sign so he wouldn't fall. The metal post bent a little into a slight bow shape, and Auri winced. She had underestimated its strength. She hoped it wouldn't snap. That would be double embarrassing for her.

"What happened?" Ratchet asked when he pulled up.

"I don't know, sir." Auri shrugged and rose from sitting on the curb. "He asked what I had been preoccupied about, and I told him."

"Dare I ask what it was?" Ratchet asked, pulling Prowl off the bending post and trying to get him back online.

"No, sir." Auri answered seriously.

Ratchet narrowed his optics at her. "Well, I'm daring, youngling. What was it?"

"Getting in trouble with Prime. I mean, I wasn't sure if I was in trouble."

"Well, small one, I have news for you." The medic said dryly, "If you're in trouble with Prime, you'll know it. Come on, Prowl! Arg. What did you do, anyway?"

"I…" Was it really a good idea to tell Ratchet? "Well… it was a social studies project, nothing, really…"

Ratchet shot her a look.

"Okay. I made up a song."

"That has something to do with social studies?"

"Yes, sir. I was studying human music forms and traditions, and I combined it with Cybertronian history."

Ratchet looked around. That sounded bad to him already, but he looked at her expectantly.

"Well…" she said, "It went like this…'There once was a **'Con** – his name was Mega**tron**,'"

The medic's mouth flopped open as he straightened up.

"'He liked to **rule**, and he liked Ener**gon**.' There are a couple more verses, but Prowl went out after 'Energon'."

Ratchet shook his head with his hands over his optics. "Let me explain to you about Prowl and hyper-illogical or completely unexpected things. They don't mix!"

"They don't?" she asked in a small voice. Uh-oh.

"No." The medic grunted, picking up the unresponsive Prowl and dropping him over his shoulder to carry. "Ngh. His logic processor is superior, but it has its short comings. It's so strong that it takes on every piece of information he receives, including others' actions. Sometimes that jams it up and shorts out his system." He turned and headed toward Med-Bay.

"Oh…" Auri grabbed her data-pads and trotted after the medic. "It that very bad?" she asked.

"Not usually." He said. "It aggravates him, and sometimes he experiences short-term memory loss, but there's not ever been permanent damage."

"Great." She muttered sarcastically to herself. "No permanent damage, -except for my career prospect! Yeah, get on his good side; short out his logic system. That's the way to do it!"

"Are you talking to me?" Ratchet asked.

"No! –No, sir. I just have some new problems." Auri answered. She heaved a sigh, watching as Ratchet entered Med-Bay. After standing outside the door and staring at the sidewalk for a minute, Auri decided that she would just go along with her original plan and hope that Prowl would overlook the short-out.

Tomorrow would be the big day as planned. She nodded, trying to convince herself that it would work.


	17. Chapter 17, We Got the Beat

WHOOP WHEEEE! I'm done with my final exams for Spring 2011! Yes! I passed all my classes nicely! I hope all went well for everybody else in similar circumstances!

So, "We Got the Beat" is the title of a song from 1980's by a group called "The Go-Go's." But I'm playing on the words and using "beat" in the sense of a policeman's round of patrol or duty. :)

* * *

Chapter 17

**We Got the Beat**

Auri poked her head in Prowl's office. She looked calm, but she felt more nervous than she could ever remember feeling before. It was now or never; if she turned back now, she would never regain enough 'nerve' to do this later. "Do you have a moment, Prowl?" She asked respectfully.

"Yes." Prowl said, which probably wasn't so, but he said it anyway to be polite. He rose as she came in.

"Do you remember that first day when we were discussing speed limit enforcement?" Auri asked.

Prowl nodded, adjusting the pile of data-pads on his desk.

"You said that you would welcome any suggestions I had for making it more effective," Auri said then hesitated.

"Yes, I did." Prowl said. He remembered that. He had been slightly impressed by how she had responded.

"I have done some research on that matter, and written a report on it. I brought it for you to read." She said, holding out a data-pad. She was not going to mention yesterday's short-out.

He took the data-pad. He had forty-odd things to do this day. And he had already read more badly written reports that morning than he'd ever cared to read in a week. Once look at the document, however, showed him that she had paid careful attention to her writing. He glanced back at her. She nodded, smiling a little. He took it back to his desk and read it. It was not bad. Actually, it was interesting. Apparently, people felt pain when handing over cash, but zipping credit cards did not bother them. This could be used to the department's advantage.

Auri watched as he read, hoping it would be better than satisfactory. It had to impress him. –especially if he remembered what she'd done yesterday. Ratchet had said that Prowl sometimes experienced short-term memory loss after a short-out. But he always remembered later. Prowl's face showed no expression as he read. Auri took this as a good sign. Prowl reminded her of another Transformer she'd known once, and no expression had been a good thing with him while a frown or smile meant trouble.

"This is good," Prowl said when he was done. "I will seriously consider your points and see about working them into the system today."

"Thank-you." Auri said. She was thrilled that that had gone over well, but she worked to sound professionally pleased instead of hyper-ecstatic. "There is something else I would be honored if you would consider,"

"Yes?" Prowl was interested now, not just polite, in light of her good proposition.

"Would you consider allowing me to work under you in this department?"

"Wh…?" he stared at her as half his logic system started to jam. What? She wanted him to consider what? No! She was well behaved but entirely too young and immature! That was preposterous! And she "hung out" (to use that awful slang) with the Terrible Twosome!

"Please?" Auri asked,

"That is not…" His logic system was starting to choke him.

"I learn quickly." Auri stated firmly, "I have already had much training in records and filing; I already have the general skills necessary to perform in the department." She had prepared for objections. "Regarding patrol, I perceive that an Autobot must be observant, honest, responsible, and courteous. And I believe I possess these traits."

"What… else…?" he asked slowly, trying to work his logic circuitry out. A patroller also had to be mature. He did not think she was overly mature. Throwing a tantrum was not mature in the least, and it was not logical. Any-bot he worked with had to possess at least some logic.

"I want this position. I feel a dedication towards it; I would give my best. Please try me? I ask for one week to prove myself; that is all. If you say no after one week, I will accept your decision."

"I…" he paused as he received a message from Red Alert. Now he had fifty –even- things to do. And the twins had just been caught on surveillance tape switching up the letters on the NEST personal computers again. Two of the liaisons had also reported their cars were missing. One week, she said? He could put up with a little extra difficulty for one week. "I accept this proposition." He said reluctantly as his logic processor hurled thirty-nine reasons at him why he should not hire her.

"Thank-you, Prowl. Thank-you very much." She said, a smile lighting her face.

He felt like putting a palm on his forehead, but he resisted. Now he had to get her started on work. New recruit, knew nothing. He pulled up some information on a data-pad and handed it to her. "Read this. Then come see me."

"Yes, sir." She looked down at it for a second. "But- however, I… I read this two days ago."

He twitched his wings in perturbation.

"I'm on module twenty-four now." She ventured to say, dipping her head a little.

Prowl vented air through his cooling systems to keep from overheating. "Understood." he said. She was ready for actual work. She was standing there waiting for him to assign a task. "In that light, then, please go find these two missing vehicles." He pulled up holographic images of two cars. "They belong to liaisons."

"Yes, Prowl." She nodded once and left.

She transformed into her alt-more and spun a few doughnuts in the road with pure delight. "Wheee! I got it! Yes! Yes! Yes! Alright, liaison cars, y'better show yourselves. I'ma patrol car!" She drove off in search of the vehicles. She worked systematically for ten minutes, checking with people and Bots. Then she came upon the twins.

"Hi, twins!" she greeted them happily.

"Hi!" "Hello! Aren't you hyper-cheerful this morning!" they responded, grinning.

"Oh, yes! I got a job! I work with Prowl!" she announced with joy.

The twins looked first awestruck, then betrayed and devastated.

"What's wrong?" she asked them.

"Y-you… work for _P-Prowl_?" Sunny spluttered,

"Uh-huh. Why?"

"Th-that… he's…" Sides trailed off, but Sunny choked out, "We thought you were our friend…!"

"O-oh." Auri said, lowering her head sadly. "I forgot. There's no love lost between you and Prowl between the tricks and rules."

"Yeah. And his punishments. We told you all about it!"

"I'm still your friend." She told them. "I'll still do everything with you mechs as I have before. Nothing's changed."

"Well, alright." They didn't sound convinced. "Yeah."

"Okay, mechs?" she asked, stepping over to hug them.

"Yes." They both answered, but she sensed that they were both still rather sad.

"I'll see you later; we can meet for Energon. I'm looking for these two cars right now." She snapped up the holograph of the vehicles.

"Sure thing." "Okay." They hesitated though.

"Have you seen them?" she asked, suddenly getting a suspicion. She had started to learn some of their body language.

"Yeah…" the twins traded a look. "We gotta go. See you for Energon."

"See you." Auri stood alone and mused for a couple moments. The twins had hidden the cars; there was no question about it. She sat down on the curb and sorted out when and where the twins had been at what times during the cars' owners' visits. Then she sorted out when the liaisons would have left their cars. –All this using the NEST intranet.- Then she smiled and headed out to construction area delta-twelve.

OoOOooOooOOoO

Prowl's back was to the door as he worked at the main computer, but he heard Auri come in. She had not been gone very long at all, certainly not gone long enough to find some cars that had been hidden by the master prankers. He braced himself apprehensively. There was no telling what had gone on during her search for the cars.

"Prowl, I found the two cars," Auri reported cheerfully. Prowl felt a stab of surprise, but the little femme went on, "I had them towed and run through the car wash. Then I had them returned to the assigned parking spaces, and I notified the owners via text that their cars were back in place."

"Good." Said Prowl, not betraying his surprise. He turned to address her but stopped and stared in silent astonishment.

The little femme's paint-job was still sparkly, but it was now white with grey and black flames, and she had the NEST Patrol shield emblazoned on her door-wings.

"I thought this would be more appropriate for the job." She explained when she got discomfited by his scrutinizing optics.

He nodded. But of course it was more appropriate. It was the logical paint-job for the position.

"I have a chameleon program that lets me change colors anyway, so I can change it back once my shift is done." She added self-consciously.

He nodded. That was good. It was strange to see the little femme-ling in something other than pink, yellow, and orange. "Do you think you can handle patrol?"

"Yes, sir; I do."

"Very well then," he handed her the assignment data-pad. "Get on it."

"Yes, sir." She transformed into car mode, a pink and baby-blue siren showing up atop the car's roof, and drove off.

"Wh…?" Prowl stuttered, staring at the door the femme-ling had exited. "Pink…? AND _baby-blue…_? Into what have I gotten myself?"

OoOOooOooOOoO

Auri was quite pleased. Finding the liaisons' cars so quickly had obviously helped her win some respect from Prowl. Now, if patrol went well, that would just perfect! Prowl's simple word of praise, "good," had felt wonderful. It almost made up for the twins semi-rejection of her.

It made her sad that the twins felt betrayed by her job-selection. She still wanted to be friends with them. Now that she'd found the cars they'd relocated and turned them back over to the liaisons, they were going to really hate her for being a turncoat to them. She sighed. Relocating a liaison's car was a naughty thing to do. But she still wanted to be their friend. Perhaps if she did well enough in Prowl's sight, Prowl would be her friend.

Lose two friends and gain one friend? That thought did not feel good. It felt empty. She refocused on Prowl's simple nod of approval. It wasn't enthusiastic and cheering like they twins' approvals were, but it was harder to get. She was reaching for something high up, and she was grasping it. That was a good accomplishment. Maybe the attainment would override the loss.

"I want to remain friends with the twins…" she whispered to herself, "But I want this job… Why can't I have both?"

She pushed the inward struggle aside as a jeep sped by at a near dangerous speed.

Pulling the speeding driver over was a simpler matter, but once the man realized that it wasn't Prowl who had the lights and sirens, though, things went downhill fast.

Auri was polite and professional and all. She was patient. Presently though, she was looking down at the insolent, rude human with a very calm, Prowl-like manner and repeating what she had told the human.

She had informed him of his traffic violation twice now, and he was refusing to accept that there was some problem with that.

Seeing that she was making no headway with the man, Auri proceeded to inform him about the new regulation: fines given for speeding violations were to be paid in cash at the time of the crime, or within the hour.

The man exploded verbally, spitting a string of words at her.

Auri cocked her head. She hadn't heard this set of words before. She paused, looking them up. Then her facial plating heated up, and she found herself unable to speak as a sick feeling washed over her. It felt like she'd been stabbed

"You know what?" Sunny said, rolling up to the vehicle's front bumper and transforming.

"No. What?" Sides said, pulling at the back bumper. He transformed as well. Both twins' faces were almost devoid of expression, but there was a furious glint in their optics.

"I think she didn't quite catch what you said, mister." The yellow-colored twin said to the man, sounding sinisterly amiable.

The twins grabbed the bumpers of the vehicle and lifted it off the ground. The man was closer to Auri's level now. She felt like she was going to start crying.

"Why don't you repeat that a little louder?" Sunny suggested.

Auri looked at the man without fully realizing what the twins were doing.

"I said-" the man started, but the back end of his vehicle hit the ground, jolting him in his seat and nearing giving him whiplash.

"Whoops! My bad." Sides said, reaching to pick up his end of the vehicle again. "Now, what was that?"

The man started again, "I said-!"

The front end slammed into the ground this time. The man shouted.

"MECH! Watch it!" Sunny snapped. "You jerked too hard and made me drop the car!" Sunny grabbed the front end again and then shoved his brother with the other end.

The man yelled.

"It's not my fault you're clumsy!" Sides retorted, shoving the vehicle towards Sunny.

"Meanie!" Sunny shoved the vehicle back. Sides shoved in turn.

"I SAID STOP!" the man roared as Sunny shoved harder. Sides lost his grip again and the vehicle dropped to the pavement. The man was starting to hyperventilate.

"Yeah. Stop, we have to finish this business." Sides said.

They started to hoist the vehicle up again.

"NO! DON'T DO THAT!" the man yelled.

"But… don't you want to repeat what you said to the patrol-Bot here?" Sunny's mock-innocent tone dripped acid.

"NO! I take BACK what I said!"

"AW… well, okaaaay." Sideswipe crooned.

"So," Sides said, sitting down of the back of the vehicle, "Now what?" he asked as the car's springs and axles creaked.

"He needs to pay the fine." Auri managed to say.

"I'M PAYING IT! I'M PAYING IT!" the man bellowed, frantically grabbing for his wallet.

Auri thanked the man with stiff tone after he had delivered the fine, and then turned away as he drove off.

Auri sighed shakily and pressed her fingers to her optics, willing herself to not start crying.

"Hey, don't let what humans say get to your spark." Sides said.

Sunny put a gentle arm around her. "Yeah, don't let it, Aurilaze." He said softly, brushing away the tear that trickled down Auri cheek. "They say that kind of thing all the time."

"Yeah, I guess they do." She murmured, still feeling hurt.

"It will be okay." Sides said.

She looked down at her data-pad before smiling up at them. "Thanks for looking after me."

"Oh, no problem. We've got your back. Always."

"Yeah. We're your friends no matter what."

She grinned, touched by their actions. They had come to back her up even if they didn't like or support who she was working for. "You're true friends, mechs." She said.

"Aw…." Sides shrugged, but he couldn't fool her.

"Well…." Sunny smiled shyly then his face froze. "Uh-oh." he said, looking annoyed.

"What?"

Sunny frowned. "Prowl just summoned us to his office. Said it's regarding a harassment charge."

"What?" Sides yelled. "Harassment? He wantsta talk about harassment –I'll tell him about harassment! No _click-clivik-SNiCiKii_ is gonna harass our Auri and charge us when we defend her!"

"Not on my watch anyway! _Ilk-ilk Snrr!_" Sunny agreed vehemently. The twins transformed and drove away furiously –they maintained the speed limit, but they were furious-.

"Oh… dear…" Auri said, but half an hour later the twins contacted her to tell her that they had been acquitted. She smiled. All was good now. She had her job under Prowl, and she still had Sunny and Sides' friendship! The human's rudeness was forgotten, only the good things were remembered. The day was wonderful!

OoOOooOooOOoO

"Ironhiiiiide!" Auri called to her guardian, and he slowed down to a halt. She drove up in her pink and bright-flamed paint-mode, stopped, and transformed. Ironhide likewise transformed.

"Hello, little one. What have you been up to?" he asked, smiling down at his small charge.

"I have obtained a job, and I have been working my shift on it." She said happily. He picked her up, bringing her to his optic level.

"Have you been around Prowl?" He asked, his optics twinkling. "You're speaking with his formal tone." She tended to copy the speech pattern of whichever bots she had been around.

She nodded. "I'm working under him."

"Wha…?" that was a bit of a surprise; perhaps he'd heard her wrong…?

"I'm working under Prowl in his department." She said, a playful sparkle showing up in her optics.

Her guardian gazed at her with a baffled look on his face. She nodded affirmatively.

"He was rather reluctant, but I said to try me for a week. And he had a lot on his desk, so I think that helped, too."

"Prowl?" He asked just to be certain, but he was starting to smile. Did she really mean stickler Prowl who micromanaged his command and never let anyone else in?

"I wasn't all precise and careful on that document because I wanted a smiley-face sticker on it. I wanted to impress him and give him an idea of what I'm capable of doing." She explained.

Ironhide processed this. Then he grinned with pleasure. "You beat everything, you know that?" he said, not bothering to disguise how proud he was of her. His little femme-ling had actually gotten a position in Prowl's office! He could probably rival Starscream in pride at that moment!

She grinned happily and hugged his neck. "I'm glad you're pleased."

"I'm _Very_ pleased." He replied joyfully. "Oh, my little femme-ling, I'm so pleased!" he gave her an extra snuggle.

She basked in his praise, drinking in the extra attention.

Then she looked concerned. "Will you be as pleased when I issue you a warning for not stopping at the last three stop signs?" she asked.

"Ah…" his processing half-jammed for a second in surprise. He had ignored those signs, hadn't he? Yeah. Then he recovered and chuckled. "I will indeed be just as pleased and even more-so," He said, "For it takes quite a bit of wiring to stand up to a superior officer when he's in the wrong."

She sighed contentedly, reassured by his answer, and rested her head on his shoulder for a moment. "I love you," she murmured.

"I love you, too."

"I missed you this morning."

He recognized the symptoms of her need for some loving attention. The morning probably had been a bit stressful. "You can intercom me anytime, you know." He reminded gently as he rubbed her back.

"Uh-huh; I know." She rested for a couple minutes then put her head up. "Well…" she switched her paint-job back to its patrol mode and then pulled out her data-pad.

Ironhide chuckled at the paint scheme. He thought it was adorable, and the thought of Prowl's consternation amused him, too.

Auri rested her data-pad on his shoulder and started to fill it out. Then she paused. "Um, could you set me down?" she asked. "This isn't very professional…"

Ironhide wanted to laugh, but he hid his grin and nodded seriously.

He gently set her down so she could put the warning in her data-pad. He watched the concentrated, intent look on his youngling's face as she made sure she wrote the phrases correctly. A movement to the side caught his attention, causing him to look around. Sunny and Sides were loitering just down the block, leaning on a building with their taze guns out. Clearly they were up to something, but what was it? He glanced down to Auri. The twins were her buddies; perhaps she knew.

"Ah, my little one, do you know what the twins up to?" he asked.

"Um, no?" she looked around and spotted the twins. "Oh…" she ducked her head and laughed softly. "They… I think they're my back up."

Ironhide chuckled. Prowl was going to jam when he found out that by hiring Auri he had also added the terrible twosome to his law-enforcement workforce.

* * *

"People felt pain when handing over cash, but zipping credit cards did not bother them." This is weird but true; I learned it in a finance class last year.

Oh, I said a while back that Chapter Eighteen was going to be fun, but I ended up having to add another chapter before that, so that chapter is now later and not eighteen. Chapter Eighteen will be a bit more serious.

I love you reviewers! You make my day that much brighter and encourage me in my writing! Kepp it up! XD


	18. Chapter 18, Working Things Out

The _HTML_ song is some random song I found on the internet specifically for this chapter; I don't own it. It's a really weird song, but you can find it on YouTube if you're dying to hear it. (You won't miss much if you don't look it up, though, just saying.) And "_I'm so lucky-lucky"_ is a phrase from some song I heard on Pandora that seemed to fit Auri's mood at the moment.

According to IMDb (the Internet Movie Database), Mirage is going to be in TF3, Dark of the Moon! Apparently he's going to be red and talk with an Italian accent…. That's quite a stretch from blue and white with a British accent. Oh, well. It's a pretty nice-looking car though... a Ferrari 458 Italia.

So, about the Cons showing up in this story, there will be two Decepticon parts: one small one and a big one. I've not gotten all the chapters figured out and in order yet, but the brief brush with them will be somewhere a little later. The main Decepticon part will not be until close to the end of the story. The sequel will have a whole lot of Decepticons and Decepticon troubles in it though… for those who want more Con stuff, you'll just have to wait a bit, but I will get it written and posted. Thanks so much for your support and reviews! :)

* * *

Chapter 18

**Working Things Out**

"Zoom, zoom, zoom… I am a patrol car." Auri sang quietly to herself as she drove down the street. "Vroom, vroom, vroom… I'm an in-control-car."

She paused at the stop sign then went on.

"Zoom, zoom, zoom… " She was very content. "_I'm so lucky-lucky_!" This was her second day working under Prowl. The Second-in-Command had found some time to educate her on the main details of his office yesterday and had given her a schedule and routine. She now had access to part of the main computer, and she was allowed to file documents for Prowl as needed, too.

Ironhide had sat her down last night and given her a strict warning about working with Prowl.

A. Prowl was a micromanaging, obsessive, workaholic perfectionist, and he was very demanding when it came to punctuality, order, and efficiency. True, things had to be done well and done properly and on time, but Ironhide did not want Auri to become obsessive over them as Prowl did.

B. Prowl was not going to like how she did most things; he was going to correct her often and without mercy. Ironhide did not want her get hurt feelings.

C. Prowl was always in the office at LEAST an hour before he was required to; Auri was not to feel like a slacker because she came in on time instead of early.

D. Prowl was not going to like her singing, but she shouldn't take it personally; he just didn't like most music. It would be better if she didn't sing while working around Prowl.

E. Prowl was going to expect her to act maturely at ALL times. She should do that, but if she desperately needed some melt-down time, she was to firmly tell him that she needed a break.

F. Prowl was going to expect EVERYTHING done his way, and he was usually not open to compromise. Auri should be patient and submissive, but she should never be a floor mat.

G. Prowl…

The lecture had gone on for quite a while. Auri had nodded and said, "Yes, Ironhide," "Yes, sir," "Uh-huh," "I understand," and such all throughout the lecture. Then Ironhide had smiled at himself, as he realized that he was going on and on. "Sorry, my little one," he'd said. "I just care for you very much, and I don't want you to be unprepared and get hurt." Auri had nodded and hugged him, and she'd told him it would work out fine.

Here on the job, Auri still held that confidence she'd expressed to Ironhide. All was going well on the streets. She hadn't been to the office that morning; Prowl had said that it was unnecessary for her to come in before morning patrol.

In his office, Prowl continued sifting through the stack of reports. He was going to ban text-speak from all written reports if he found two more occurrences of it. Why had he put up with it for so long anyways? He was always too busy; that was why.

He paused and looked at the main computer. He still needed to update the intranet Autobot news site. On second thought, HTML was easy for Cybertronians. He could have Aurion-Blaze learn it, and then he could let her manage the site. He hesitated. Could he trust her with the site? He knew a brig-ful of Bots who would love to prank the whole intranet-viewing population of NEST Base.

Ironhide had given him a strict warning about having Aurion working under him.

A. Ironhide understood that Prowl would have to correct Auri, but if he made her cry, Ironhide would bust his after-plating.

B. If he ever made Auri feel like a slacker because she came in on time instead of early, Ironhide would rearrange schedules.

C. Auri was going to sing quietly to herself now and then, just be warned.

D. Auri was still very young and would need some melt-down time at some point; if she said she needed a break, and he would let her have one, or he would face the consequences.

E. Auri didn't know yet how to do everything his way yet, and she would be patient and submissive when he corrected her, but he was never to treat her like a floor mat.

F. Auri…

Prowl had listened and made mental notes throughout the lecture. Then he had politely said that he was not incapable but very busy and then sent the Weapons Specialist away to assist in the cleaning of the fuel tankers. Prowl smiled ever so slightly because Ironhide had obviously worked his lecture down to a very short amount of time with each subject covered by just one sentence. The Bot had known Prowl wouldn't put up with much lecturing.

Well, Aurion obviously wanted to do well… the likelihood of her maliciously tampering with the intranet site was very small. He decided that he would try to trust her with it.

He resumed his paperwork, and the office was perfectly quiet for while until Auri came in.

"Good morning, Commander Prowl," she greeted cheerfully as she closed the door behind her.

Prowl looked up with slight surprise. "Good morning," he replied after a brief pause. Nobody usually greeted him brightly; he had given them no reason, always enforcing rules and contradicting their illogical statements. He was Second-in-Command and had no tolerance for nonsense.

"Patrol went very smoothly," Aurion was saying as she tapped something into her data-pad. "I didn't know all those roads existed." She marveled in a conversational tone.

"They do." Prowl said with a final tone, continuing with his paperwork.

Auri logged her patrol report quietly and then came over. "Now what?" she asked.

Prowl handed her a data-pad. "Learn HTML."

She looked down at it for a second. "I… I already know HTML." She said with a carefully respectful tone.

"Oh." Prowl had been certain that she did not know it, "Why did you not list it in your file then?"

"The twins just introduced me to it last night."

"Say, 'it to me,' not, 'me to it.'" Prowl corrected immediately, "Place your own pronoun second."

Auri stiffened at the abruptness of his correction. Ironhide and Chromia were always more gentle. But Prowl was right. "Understood." She said, nodding her head. "The twins introduced it to me last night. They said I would need to know it for this job."

Prowl's optics narrowed suspiciously at her last sentence. Those twins were always conniving. "Did they?" he questioned. She nodded with blithe innocence. "Did they also suggest this job to you?" he asked.

"Oh, no!" she shook her head, her optics widening in shock as she realized what Prowl was implying. "No! They were upset when they found out that I had this job! I would NEVER abuse this position!"

"See that you do not." Prowl warned. "Very well, add these updates to the NEST intranet." He handed her a different data-pad.

Auri took it and retreated to the main computer. Ironhide really hadn't been kidding, she realized. Prowl was firm and nice when he was just patrolling, but now he was only firm. She could take it though. 'Just don't try to chat,' she advised herself, 'And don't mention the twins unless it's absolutely necessary.' "Honestly, those twins," she muttered.

"Are you talking to me?" Prowl asked from his desk.

"No," Auri said in a small voice. Oops…

"Then do not talk at all. Please."

"I will try not to; it is an old habit." She replied. He nodded, deciding to overlook the back-talk this once since it was her first day. They went back to their respective tasks.

Adding the updates to the intranet went slowly as she was not very familiar with the site. The HTML was very easy, just locating and opening the page was hard. After half an hour, she smiled as the page turned up perfectly with the first two updates. She was pleased with her work. Now she just had the other eight updates to do, and they should go much faster now that the trial and error stage was mostly completed.

"That is right." Prowl said quietly from at his computer behind his desk. Auri looked over at him, and he nodded. She smiled; she needed that praise. She returned to the updating. This HTML stuff was like a little the learning games she used to play when she was smaller.

Her systems picked up the pattern of the computer language and typing it began to be even easier. She could get used to doing this. The twins did it a lot. And they knew a song about it…

_HTML, HTML… Hey, Yeah! What a cyber place to dwell…!_

_HTML … I've got a feeling and an eye for detail__

_HTML … RAM to the ceiling and a virus sentinel__

_HTML … No legal software, only piracy wholesale__

_HTML, HTML… I'm in my cyber citadel...!_

"This is an office, not a club." Prowl's voice broke through her preoccupation.

"S-sorry, Prowl!" Auri was aghast. She hadn't realized that she'd started swaying to the song.

"It is a habit, I understand. But I require discipline in this office."

"Understood." She answered quietly.

Prowl motioned for her to continue her work as he returned to his.

Auri ducked her head and refocused on the main computer. She had to watch it. She seriously had to watch it. She couldn't keep slipping up and getting called down. The twins said Prowl had only a certain amount of patience. They said he had as much patience as Megatron had niceness. And, (apparently) Megatron was only nice when he was using it to get his way. The twins meant that Prowl was the same with patience. If she showed Prowl that his patience wasn't getting him what he wanted, she would be sent on her way.

How much would he put up with, anyway? There was the chatty slip-up. Then the grammar. Next talking to herself. Worst of all was the dancing. She really, really hadn't meant to do any of those things. And Prowl had only said one positive thing to her since she'd come in, besides echoing 'good-morning.'

She finished two more up-dates. They looked right, just as Prowl had set them up. They looked boring though. If she could only add a tiny, little border, the page would look a whole lot better. She would not try it today, but someday, if she was ever in good standing with Prowl, she would.

'Six updates more to go,' she thought to herself. 'And the last ones went faster than the first ones. I may get good at this.' She smiled at the thought. The twins would be pleased, especially since they had taught her. Sunny would toss his head and brag about how she was working on the NEST intranet site after he and Sides had taught her HTML. Sides, of course, would brush it off and say how easy it was while being secretly very pleased. The twins were such funny characters.

She looked over her page of work before posting it. It was perfect once again. She smiled and posted it and then moved on to the next one. Steadily she worked, finally getting to the last update. She marveled that Prowl could be so silent for so long. All the Autobots talked at some point or another; even the quiet ones had to make some comment from time to time. Not so with Prowl.

She looked over towards his desk, wondering if he was actually still there. Well, he was still there, he was just completely silent. Did he have something against speaking? Did he love silence so much? The twins said he had a superiority complex. Did that involve not speaking?

Prowl looked up as if expecting something. Auri turned back to the computer.

"Do you need something?" Prowl asked.

"I was just wondering if you were still in the room." Auri answered before mentally face-palming. Prowl said nothing, however, and she supposed she was safe for the moment.

She finished the last update and put it through the finalization process. There. That was done. She checked the page, eager to see her work, but her optics widened in horror at what she saw. Something had gone horribly wrong and the formatting was completely ruined. She must have accidentally redone something in a different column. Now nothing in the formerly mathematically correct page lined up. She had messed up somewhere without knowing where or meaning to.

She pulled up the work-page. She was going to have to go through the whole thing in order to fix whatever it was that was wrong. She didn't even know where it was wrong. She didn't have much time to do it, for Prowl seemed to be checking her work every now and then. If he saw what she'd done, she would wish herself miles away. It was bad enough getting her beginner's grammar corrected; it would be terrible reprimand for another little mistake… only this little mistake showed up huge.

She didn't know where to start. The task had grown overwhelming, and the stakes were high now. She had to find the solution. She had to solve it. She couldn't mess up under Prowl again.

Auri steeled herself to the inevitable; Prowl was going to find out soon and reprimand her. She was going to take it, nod, and make everything right again. No, she knew that wasn't true. She knew she'd start to cry if she got a stern word at this point. She felt like crying anyway. She was trying so hard, and somehow she was failing.

It all hurt very much. She only wanted to do well. And she was failing because of her inexperience. This was terrible... she was not going to survive this.

"It is not so bad," Prowl said quietly. He had slipped away from his desk and was standing right by her shoulder.

Auri froze and clenched her jaws to keep from crying out with desperation.

"Look," Prowl directed, pointing at the screen. "Look at it from a different direction. This way." His voice had an almost soothing quality, "Follow the pattern," he ran his finger down the end of the rows of text instead of across the text. "Where does it deviate?" he asked.

"It…" she watched carefully, "There." She said suddenly.

Prowl nodded. "There." He confirmed. He stood beside Auri while she worked out the problem and re-entered the data. She could almost feel his body-warmth. She finished the document and looked up to see what he thought about her work. She couldn't tell, but he nodded. "You have it." He said. It was encouraging.

She finalized her work and posted it. It came out right. She sighed with relief.

"You need not be so tense," Prowl said, the customary sternness of his tone had been softened somewhat. "You have one week, not one morning, remember?"

Auri, with her head still lowered, nodded a little. Prowl paused, thinking things over.

"Come over here and sit down." he ordered, moving back to his desk and gesturing to another chair as he sat. Auri followed, doing as requested; she didn't want a lecture, but she felt she had one coming.

Prowl was quiet for another moment. Then he had another order. "Put your chin up." He told her, "Never hang your head in this office. Mistakes are made, but we do not respond that way. We pick ourselves up and carry on."

"Understood," Auri said softly, raising her head but unable to make herself meet his optics. She wanted to leave and run away.

"Look at me," Prowl said. Auri complied, meeting his optics timidly. They were a purer blue than Ironhide's optics, which tended to have lavender flecks in them. The mouth below was one that was not given to smiling often. She knew that his aloofness had drawn her interest, but now she was regretting it. She was too undisciplined for this demanding officer. She wished he would say something instead of steadily holding her gaze. She shouldn't even be staring the Second-in-Command in the face.

"Stay," he told her when she started to look away. She stayed. But, it didn't feel right. She was an underling, and underlings were NOT to stare their superiors in the face. She could stare the twins in the face because they were buddies and playmates. She could meet Ironhide's optics and gaze back at him, and they might stare during a game, but she certainly wouldn't consider boldly engaging him in some staring contest when he was telling her to do something.

Why would the Second-in-Command order her to transgress this unwritten law of subordinates? Was it to punish her, to shove her against the boundaries she inadvertently crossed to make her uncomfortable for it so she'd never try again? Motive… What was his motive? He had figuratively pulled her up, elevated her, by making her look him straight in the optics; thus, she felt a little freer to look more deeply into his optics. They lacked much warmth, but they were not cruel. Their expression was mild, waiting. Prowl was waiting for her to realize something. What was it? Oh, what was it? What's your secret, Prowl?

A hint of a smile touched Prowl's hard line of a mouth. It softened his optics, too.

Auri realized that she was no longer uncomfortable with meeting his gaze. He had wanted that. That had been his motive for engaging her in this staring game. And thus she had discovered the secret. She could look him back in the optics as a teammate, for she was a teammate, -subordinate teammate, true, but a teammate nonetheless and not an underling. Prowl wanted her to come up, not to stay down. She smiled shyly, ever so slightly.

Prowl nodded. "Understand?" he asked.

She looked down. Then she looked back up, meeting his optics with hardly any hesitation this time. "Yes, Commander." she said.

"Good." He said. "We need to reach an understanding in order for this to work."

Auri nodded, unsure what to say. Prowl continued. "I know that Transformers are not infallible; thus, I do not demand perfection. Why do you look confused?"

"I… I… do not know what 'infallible' means."

"Fallible means capable of making a mistake. Infallible means never making mistakes." Prowl explained.

"Then why say 'not infallible'? ... the 'not' and the 'in-' cancel each other out."

Prowl raised an optic-ridge. "That is an irrelevant question for this conversation. It has to do with word choice and nuances of word-meaning."

"Oh."

"'Understood, Commander.'" Prowl corrected.

"Understood, Commander." Auri echoed, glancing sideways in slight exasperation with herself.

"Continuing," Prowl said. Then he paused. Where he left off?

"You do not demand perfection," Auri prompted. Prowl looked slightly aggravated.

"I do not demand perfection," That is where he had been, "Yet, with that said, I add that I will not accept slacking or sloppy work." He continued. "As long as you give your best, I will not be displeased. Why are you quirking your mouth at me?"

"Well… the 'not' and the 'dis' in 'displeased' cancel ou… nevermind."

"Accept that pattern of speech; that is just how some words are used."

"Yes, sir."

How on earth was he going to anything through to this youngling if he kept on having to explain what he was saying?

"You will not be displeased," Auri prompted. Prowl twitched his door-wings.

"I…" he stopped and sorted out any words that might be confusing before going on. "Simply do what you are doing to the best of your skill. Mistakes will happen, but I will not be angry with you for them. As long as you are trying, your work will accepted. I will correct, but it is just part of the process. Do not be afraid of me. Come to me if you need help."

Auri nodded. "Yes, Commander." She said.

"I believe you know what I require of you: orderliness, timeliness, work done well, and respect."

Auri nodded. She understood all of that easily.

"What do you require of me?" Prowl asked.

Auri's optics widened in astonishment. "Me… r-r-**require** of _YOU_?"

"It is 'I require' – not 'me require.'"

Auri nodded, a little too amazed to speak.

"Have I overloaded your processors?" Prowl asked when she didn't say anything.

"N-no." Auri answered staring. "I… just am having a hard time understanding."

"This between us is a relationship. It does not involve hugging or kissing or hanging out, but is a relationship. Understand?"

Auri nodded. But it would be cool to hang out with him.

"All relationships require that each being in the relationship give something for the relationship to work." He paused to make sure that the femme-ling understood. She nodded, and he went on. "Now, you know what you need to give, but I do not know what I need to give. Thus, I am asking: what do I need to give? What do I need to do for you? What can I do that will make this work out better for you?"

"Oh…!" Auri gazed away in wonder. Her superior officer was asking what he could do for her, not just dictating what she had to do for him! She knew what she needed.

"Do you see now?" he asked.

"Yes." Auri paused. It didn't seem right to ask for this.

"Go ahead."

"I…" she lowered her optics. He would think she was fishing for complements. "I… you will think badly of me if I say…"

"Head up." Prowl ordered. "Out with it. What do you need?"

Auri lifted her head. "I n-nee… I don't –do not- actually…"

Prowl tucked his chin and gave her a stern look.

"Positive feedback for my work." Auri said quickly, the stern look swatting her into action.

"Positive feedback," Prowl considered this for a moment.

"I… I… just feel more confident and able to go on when someone tells me…it's okay..." she trailed of uncertainly.

"That is understandable." Prowl said. "Very well. I will give you positive feedback. Mind you, though, it will not be Ironhide's lavish praise."

"I know." It would be weird, though awesome, if Prowl was lavish in praise.

"Inform me if there is anything you need if you think of it later." Prowl said, rising.

Auri followed suit. "Yes, Commander." She replied. "Th-thank-you."

He nodded. "Thank-_you _for the work you have done so far and will do in the future."

Auri smiled. Those words were wonderful.

Prowl motioned her to return to the main computer. "There is more that you can do there. I will show you."

Auri headed towards the main computer, contentment welling up in her spark. Now she had Prowl to back her up, as well as the twins.

* * *

Ah... I have a jumble of chapter documents that need to be arranged now; I have them written but haven't figured out which one goes where. Ph, but there are several ones that need to be written out. Anyway... never fear; I'll get them straightened out and posted. :)

Review, please! It makes writting go much better! ;)

V


	19. Chpter 19, Younglings Can Make You Batty

I got most of the chapters sorted! I am fairly certain about the next six, seven, or eight chapters. Then the others are pretty much in order, but I might change them; I'll know better where to put them once the earlier ones are posted. I think I may have fifty to sixty chapters in this story. But I might have more; we'll see how it all works out. Sometimes sub-story story-arcs take more chapters than I think they will. Anyway. It's going well.

MisCrasyaboutfanfics has posted a story where her OFC Peaches meets Auri! Check it out! It's called "Meeting Auri" :)

Dude, I have been waiting so long to post this chapter! I wrote it ages ago! Anyway, have fun! XD

* * *

Chapter 19

**Younglings Can Make You Batty**

"Hang on just a second," Auri told the twins as she went into her guardians' quarters. She let the door close. She'd been hanging out with the twins for several hours, but they wanted her to stay up and watch a movie with them. She wanted to stay up and watch it with them, too; it would be nice to have some extra fun. Working with Prowl was fun, but it was very serious, too. It was going well, though; four days had passed, and so far everything seemed to be working out alright. Sure, she'd made some mistakes, and Prowl had corrected her, but other than that, it was working out well. Prowl remembered to give positive feedback, too, and that helped a whole lot.

"Hello, my little one." Ironhide greeted Auri. He was sprawled on the couch. Chromia was on the couch, too, her head on his shoulder and his arm around her.

"Hello," Auri answered, smiling fondly at them. "Is it alright if I go over to the twins' quarters and watch a movie with them?"

Chromia, despite her drowsy state, felt Ironhide stiffen in surprise ever so slightly.

"Y-yes." Ironhide answered after a pause. "Just be back here by 10:30 P.M., and don't drink high-grade, or engage in intimate activities."

"Okay," Auri said, nodding, almost laughing. She would never do those things! He always warned her though; it was part of his protectiveness. He was so very protective of her. And she adored him for it.

"That's 10:30 P.M. this time-zone." He added. Chromia smirked sleepily.

"Silly I'Hide, you know I don't mess around with time-zone excuses." Auri rebuked adoringly. She hugged her beloved guardians, giving Chromia a quick kiss before running off with the twins.

"Sparklings grow up pretty fast, huh?" Chromia said, watching her mate's face.

"She's not a sparkling!" he protested. "…yes…"

The next evening Auri asked again to go with the twins.

"Another movie, Auri? I would rather you not watch a lot of movies." Ironhide answered, looking up from cleaning his cannon.

Auri, sitting across from him, paused a moment to make sure that she spoke respectfully. She handed Ironhide one of the pieces he needed. Then she said, "No, not another movie, Ironhide. The same movie. We didn't finish it last night."

Chromia smiled. "Was it _Pride and Prejudice_?" she asked, coming to lean on Ironhide's shoulder.

There was a short pause as Auri looked it up. She laughed when she saw that it ran for over four and a half hours. "No. It's actually almost over. We were at the climax when I left. …I got back at 10:25."

Ironhide smiled, glad that she hadn't stretched the curfew he'd set. "You may go then, by all means. I'm very pleased that you respected my wishes."

"But of course I respect your wishes." Auri replied, a little perplexed frown appearing on her face. "I love and respect you hugely; why would I go against something you told me to do?"

Ironhide smiled at her. "I was encouraging you; I didn't mean that I was surprised at you obedience."

"Oh…! I see now." She grinned and slipped off her chair to go and around hug him. He cuddled her before gently setting her back down.

He watched her fondly, wishing that he could keep her forever. But she was definitely growing up. Working with Prowl had made her mature a little more over the past few days. "Have fun." He said

"I will! Thank-you! I'll be back before 10:30." She promised.

"Have fun." Chromia said.

"Oh, I will; the twins are a blast." Auri answered, hugging Chromia with a grin before she left.

They finished the movie. The finale was stunning!

"Dude…! That was so cool! AWESOME!" Auri enthused at the end of the movie.

The twins grinned, pleased. They lounged back on the couch as the end credits played. Auri leaned on Sunstreaker's shoulder and put her feet on Sideswipe. "That was really scary at some parts, but, overall, I loved it!"

"Yeah; we love it, too." Sides said.

"We fast-forwarded the very worst parts just for you; you probably wouldn't want to watch it again without us." Sunny said.

"Okay! I'll only watch it with you mechs." She said, grinning.

"Okay!" "Alright!" That made them very happy. Here was another way they could look out for their little pet friend.

"And there's a sequel?" she asked.

"Yeah, but it's not as good." Sides said.

"And the Lamborghini gets totaled." Sunny added.

"Aw! That's sad!" Auri muttered.

"Yeah… pretty disappointing."

"It's much darker, too." Sunny said reflectively, "Ironhide probably wouldn't like it if you watched it."

"He doesn't know what we're watching." Auri said.

"He doesn't!" Sides exclaimed.

"Wow! I'd thought he would have asked!" Sunny added.

"I believe he trusts my judgment." Auri replied happily.

"That's nice… he doesn't always trust ours."

"Hmm. I wonder why." She made them laugh.

"He likes the vehicle in the movie, though." Sideswipe said. "He'd take it for his alt-mode if we were allowed to take fictional vehicles' forms."

Auri giggled. "That'd be awesome! Hahaha!"

The twins' grins took on an extra gleam. "We'd thought of a related prank a long time ago, but we've never been able to do it because we can't access his quarters."

"Oh, really?"

"Yeah. Hey! You want to help us prank him? It would be AWESOME!"

"Well… I'm not sure…"

"It wouldn't be mean or dirty or anything. Just a simple little prank that is easily fixed. Here, we'll show you the plans…"

The twins gave the prank their best sales pitch ever. They could have sold a punch in the face to Starscream, they were that good.

Then three young, shadowy forms snuck into Ironhide and Chromia's quarters.

"Be careful not to touch Chromia," the femme shadowy form warned in a whisper. "It's like she's always on half alert."

"Got it." One mech shadowy form said.

"What about Ironhide?" the other asked.

"You could kick him several times before he'd wake up." The femme said, "But I don't advise it. It's noisy and would wake Chromia."

"Okay. Got the stuff, Sunny?"

"Yup. Here goes…"

OooOOoOoOOooO

In the morning, Ironhide came out of recharge and patted Chromia. "See you later, light of my spark. I've got base patrol this early hour." He said softly, speaking to her although she was still in deep recharge.

He went past a prone, motionless Auri and left his quarters. Transforming into his truck mode, he drove off.

Sitting up, Auri grabbed her office-work data-pad and linked into the security cameras, locating Ironhide in a couple seconds. He drove up to small group that included a several new recruits, Lennox, and Prowl.

Prowl! Auri's optics widened. Not Prowl! Things were going so well in his office for her, and it would be terrible to mess them up now! He didn't care much for pranks; she knew THAT for a fact. She looked concerned but it was a little too late to reconsider. Besides, she'd had proved herself to be a very useful co-worker, an excellent patroller, and a skilled website manager.

Ironhide transformed, and the new recruits lost it as giant black bat-wings arched up from behind Ironhide's shoulders. Lennox choked on his coffee, and Prowl stared.

Auri grinned at the scene.

Ironhide looked around, caught sight of a wing tip, and swiftly transformed back into truck mode. Then he made a beeline for his quarters, the great black wings streaming from his sides as he went.

'Oh… wait! No! I'm the obvious culprit…' Auri realized too late. 'TWINS! I'm the fall-guy!' She looked around. Ironhide was too near for her to leave the quarters. She snapped her battle mask in place as she crawled under the table and hid.

Ironhide rolled in and transformed. "Chromia!" Ironhide shouted, sounding quite perturbed.

Auri's optics widened with horror. Ironhide didn't usually yell indoors.

"Yes?" Chromia answered, entering the room. "Whoa!" she dropped her Energon cube. She picked it up, and Auri heard her chuckle a moment later.

"I do believe you've gone batty." Chromia commented dryly. Auri almost choked with extra horror. He was yelling and Chromia was teasing him!

"Hmm." Ironhide growled darkly.

"I'll take your patrol for you." Chromia offered, still sounding amused.

"Thank-you. … Sorry for yelling."

"It's okay. I'd yell, too, if I was batty."

"Stop it, femme," Ironhide growled playfully. Auri heard him swat Chromia lightly.

Chromia chuckled in reply, and Auri heard her smack Ironhide. "Don't order me around, my slave."

"Mm, mm, I do your bidding,"

"Kiss,"

Auri heard them kissing softly. 'Okay, okay!' Auri thought. 'Somebody call smooch-patrol! They're seriously making out…' But then Chromia's footfalls faded beyond the door, and Auri sighed a silent sigh of relief. She loved it when they had fun with each other around her, but this had gone a little farther than usual. They were cute together though. Ha, Ironhide, Chromia's slave. Auri smiled; she could see it perfectly. But then, too, Chromia acted like Ironhide's slave. Love must be awfully weird and pleasant at the same time.

Auri heard Ironhide growl as he tried to dismantle the bat-wings. She winced. 'Uh-oh…' She kept still and silent.

"Younglings!" her guardian snarled several minutes later. "Ow!"

Auri frowned in indecision. She could wait until he left and then run. But he might look for her before leaving. He seemed to be getting madder by the minute. He might be completely enraged by the time he was done with the wings. She decided that she'd better come out now while he was just a little angry.

She crawled half-way out from under the table. "Ironhide…?" she ventured in a small voice.

Ironhide stopped wrestling with the bat-wings and turned to look at her. She looked particularly small there, peeking out from under the table with wide blue optics.

"S-sorry…" she said.

Ironhide came over. He took her by the door-wings and hauled her out from under the table, putting her on top of it. "Get these off." He told her firmly, turning his back to her.

"Yes, Ironhide." She answered miserably as she began to dismantle the attachments. A whole slew of possible ways he could punish her ran through her processors as she worked. Her optics threatened to fill with tears as she thought of the worst and probably the most effective one.

She tried to choke back a whimper, but Ironhide heard it.

"What's wrong, little one?" he asked gently.

"Y-y-you w-w-won't s-s-s…"

He turned and touched her shoulder. "What…?" he asked, regretting the fact that he'd yelled earlier, for he had not been angry with her at all; he'd been mad at somebody else.

"Y-y-you w-won't s-send me aw-way, w-will you?" she was crying now, the tear streaming down her cheeks.

"Oh! No, no, no, little one." He took her in his arms and brushed the tears away, "I would never send you away."

She leaned back to look at him. "Y-you wouldn't?"

"Never. Unless you joined the Decepticons, and then they wouldn't let you stay here anyway."

She smiled thoughtfully at his joke for a second before growing serious again and ducking her head. "B-but you… I m-mean… I'm in trouble aren't I?"

"Not this time. I _know_ you didn't come up with that idea, and I know you wouldn't have done it without the twins." He said. "We'll talk about what you did. You should never prank a higher ranking officer, and you should never prank your guardians."

"I wasn't sure about it," She said with a little sigh. "They made it sound awfully grand."

"Yeah, I'll bet they did." He shook his head. "Consult Chromia next time, okay?"

"Okay." She replied, smiling with relief. "Just as long as I don't get sent away."

"We'll never send you away, little one." He reassured her. He really did want to keep her forever.

"Okay." She was content now, feeling better now that that was established. It was worth him yelling about the prank to hear him confirm his love.

"Turn so I can finish removing these wings." Auri ordered, tapping his arm.

He turned; he leaned of the table a little this time. "Uhm, what movie did you three watch?"

"_Batman Begins. _It was pretty spectacular."

"O-oh…" he said. He smiled then, realizing exactly why they had chosen to wire bat wings to his shoulders and set a trigger on his subspace field to deploy them when he transformed into bipedal-mode.

Ironhide grinned. Come to think of it, that had been pretty funny.** Iron-Bat**, dark winged **doom** from the Autobot forces: don't mess with **him** or you may have to **explain** to MEGATRON that you weren't there to aid him because you were being thrashed by a **giant bat**. Ironhide chuckled. Behind him, his little femme-ling smiled, happy that he wasn't mad.

OooOOoOoOOooO

Sunny and Sides were hanging out in their quarters, hacking some of the Decepticons' Facebook accounts. Sunny smirked and added bubble-baths to Skywarp's list of likes. Sides snickered. "Thundercracker likes ice-skating and 'I used to twist my swing, so when I sit and let go, i spin in circles :).'"

"How long do you think we have before Prowl finds out about this Facebook stuff?" Sunny asked.

"Uh… I don't know. He's not too watchful about Facebook stuff yet. I think Auri might figure out soon though. She's rather become the internet watchdog."

"Nhg. Little pet minion. It's hard to get any with anything nowadays. I love her anyways."

"Whoa! _**LOVE**_?"

"Like I love you, twin. I mean… she's like a baby sister."

"'Love' can be applied so many different ways, that's all. I thought you meant something else. I do know what you mean." Sides said, seriously. "I love her that way, too."

They were quiet for once. Then they were back to talking again.

"It was awesome that she went along with the bat-wings prank. I mean, that whole thing was sweet fabulousness!" Sides said, grinning.

"I only hope she doesn't get into too much trouble."

"She's Ironhide pet! She couldn't get into trouble with him if she tried!"

"I was thinking about Prowl." Sunny said grimly.

Sides frowned, and his shoulders sagged. "Aw. Yeah…" he thought for a moment. "Well, she's been really good at her job, maybe he'll overlook it."

"Did you just use 'Prowl' and 'overlook' in the same sentence?"

Sides scowled at himself. "We'll just have to go beg and plead and apologize if she gets in trouble with Prow-Bot. And then we'll go to Prime, and he'll straighten things out for her after he gives us a stern lecture."

"A Prime lecture: ouch. But I guess we can live with it." Sunny concluded.

"Consequences… oh, well!" he finished brightly, no use in being glum until something really bad happened. "Hey, look: Thundercracker, the blue butterfly. Nice profile pic, dude."

"Nice! Ah… lets add music to Screamer's likes…. He hates music." A wicked grin spread across the twin's face.

"Yeah! And I know just who to add. Justin- _**AH**_!"They both nearly jumped out of their armor at the room-shaking knock that sounded on their quarters' door.

"That's Ironhide." Sideswipe whispered.

"Think he found out?" Sunny whispered back.

"Yeah, uh-oh…"

"Twins? Are you opening this door, or am I?" Ironhide threatened.

"Hi-yah, 'Hide, how's it goin'" Sunny said, beaming broadly as he opened the door. It was better to open the door and let Ironhide punch you than to have him open the door and break it over your head.

"You know exactly how it's going." Ironhide said sternly, entering the room. "But let me make it crystal clear." The twins backed up, and Ironhide gave them a grim look. "Auri is my ward." He said, "And you two like to hang out with her. That's fine. That's also a privilege. If you teach her wrong things and influence her to be naughty, you will lose that privilege. It that understood?"

The twins nodded in unison.

"She learns quickly, and she learns from watching other bots. Now," he pointed at both of them, looking them straight in the optics. "You are both older, more experienced, and have been on earth longer. As a result, and as her friends and playmates, you have a responsibility to look after her. Don't mess it up."

"No, sir, Ironhide." Sunny said fervently.

"We won't." Sides promised.

"Good." Ironhide dipped his head and moved to leave but paused on his way out. "I'm counting on you. _It's not who you are underneath, but what you __**do**__ that defines you_." He said. He closed the door as he went out.

Sunny and Sides collapsed against each other.

"Did he say what I thought he said?" Sunny asked.

"He used a quote from _Batman_!"

"I meant about us."

"Yeah. That, too. He said we were responsible to look after her."

"Wow."

"We've got quite a job before us now, then, don't we?"

"We sure do. He's counting on us! US!"

"Mech… I wish he'd told us that before we stuck that stupid bumper sticker on his truck mode…"

"ARRRRG!"

* * *

"It's not who you are underneath, it's what you **do** that defines you." ~Rachel Dawes, _Batman Begins _

I love _Batman Begins; _it's one of my favorite movies. And my sister fast-forwards the really creepy Scarecrow scenes for me. She's the best sister I could ask for. :)

Also, check out the Batman Begins fic I just posted! It's just some silly thing I came up with some time ago, but it was fun to write! :) It's called, "There IS a Robin." XD


	20. Chapter 20, Major Mistake

So, the Bots are going to be a bit sad is this chapter, but they will recover in the next chapter.

Sunny and Sides will be back, too. :)

And you will all find out why the Cons have Facebook in the next chapter, as well.

Happy Birthday to MisCrasyaboutfanfics! Chapter 19 is your birthday present chapter since this chapter is not nearly as fun, and unless my math is wrong, you are turning 19. *HUGS* XD

* * *

Chapter 20

**Major Mistake**

Major William Lennox was in a bit of a hurry as he headed down the sidewalk. He really didn't want to attend the meeting, but since he was going, he would rather not be late. He'd been delayed on the phone, and the jeep had left without him.

He neared a cross walk and saw Auri halt at the stop sign. He smiled. He hadn't spent any time with the newest Bot on base, but he sure had heard all about her from Ironhide. Why, his old weapon specialist friend talked about his little femme-ling even more than he, Lennox, talked about his little Annabelle.

Will started to cross the street in front of Auri, but Auri, apparently, had different ideas. She continued forward, nearly running over his foot.

"Hey!" he exclaimed. She couldn't do that. "Halt!" First rule of the road, pedestrians were given the right-of-way. But the little sports car continued as if she'd not heard.

Will whipped his pistol from its holster and rapped its butt lightly on her rear fender as she pulled away to catch her attention.

It definitely got her attention.

"HEY!" she yelled, twisting away and transforming swiftly, setting her feet well apart and planting her hands on her hips. Will narrowed his eyes when he saw a nasty glare on her face. "How dare you!" she snapped, grabbing the gun from his hand.

"Ahngh!" Will clenched his teeth at the pain that spiked through his fingers, wrist, and arm. She might have broken something, he wasn't sure yet. He cradled his hand and looked sharply up at her in surprise. She was still glaring down at him.

"How dare you, I said," She snarled, "I am a member of Base Patrol; you will treat no member of Base Patrol with such contempt."

He opened his mouth to speak, but didn't get to say anything.

"Such actions are unacceptable." She cut him off immediately, and she crouched down to his height to get in his space and intimidate him. He stood firm. She had words for him. "The members of the NEST team are to show respect at all times." She reprimanded. "If that does not happen, things break down. Thus, those who do not comply will be dismissed and removed. Would you like that to happen to yourself?"

Despite the screaming pain in his limb, Will couldn't help but see the humor in her lecturing him about the rules of NEST Base. He managed to hide a smile, but the sparkle in his eyes gave him away.

"You think that is funny?" the femme patroller asked ominously.

He nodded. "Yes, Auri, I do. I don't mean to laugh at you, but given who I am and what you did, it does seem a little humorous for you to be lecturing me."

"Explain." She ordered. Will almost smiled; she sounded just like Prowl when he ordered an explanation.

"I am Major William Lennox," Will said then paused to let that sink in. He really needed some pain-killer. Auri's optics shifted, and he knew that she realized now who he was. "As for the lecture, I should be delivering it to you. You nearly ran over me at the crosswalk." He stated.

Her optics narrowed, studying him.

"You studied the rules of the road, didn't you?" He asked, softening his voice. Ironhide had said a lot about how she responded voice tones.. The femme-ling gave him a searching look before nodding. "Between the two of us at this intersection, who has the right-of-way?" he asked.

The blue optics remained fixed on his face, searching, probing. He kept looking back, showing no hostility, only openness. Then the blue optics flickered after a moment. "You do." the femme-ling said quietly, the anger gone from her voice.

Will nodded, now uncertain of what to say. She never took her optics off his face.

"I reacted defensively when I should have calmly evaluated the situation." She said quietly. He could tell she was working hard to keep sounding professional, and he could hear regret creeping into her tone. "I apologize for my actions."

"I forgive you," Will said, "It's okay. We all make misjudgments." He smiled up at her and nodded to confirm his words. Man, but his hand was throbbing. He winced.

Auri looked down at the tiny gun in her hand. Will saw her shudder, and then she closed her optics.

"I'm sorry," she whispered. She un-shuttered her optics and tears welled up in them.

"Hey," Will said gently. "I said it's okay." He stepped over to be closer to her. She moved away and tilted her hand, sliding his pistol onto the ground.

"I-I h-hurt you," she whimpered, taking another step back.

"This?" he asked, pointing to his burning arm with a crooked smile. "I got worse hanging out and clowning around with biking buddies in the old days. Don't feel too bad abou… Aw… Kiddo," the little femme had crumpled up, sitting down on the curb to hide her face in her arms.

He scooped up his pistol, holstering it, and walked over and touched Auri's arm with his good hand. She didn't respond; she just kept shuddering slightly. "Look, aw, baby, it's okay. I hit you; it wasn't the brightest thing I could have done to a femme." He rubbed her arm gently, "I mean, the mechs you can hit and they'll be like 'What!' I didn't think about how femmes react. And I'm married; I should know better. Provoke them and you end up in the doghouse."

Auri sobbed softly.

Will rested his head against her smooth armoring. "Cry it out, baby." He murmured gently, still rubbing her arm, "I'm guessing things have been kinda tough for you."

"M-my j-job…. oh… Pr-r-row-owl…" she whimpered.

"Prowl's… Prowl will be fair. Don't worry about it" Will said. "It'll be okay,"

He remained standing by her, trying to give words of comfort from time to time, but she remained inconsolable. His hand really, really hurt. He didn't know what to do. 'I can fight Decepticons and engage armed forces with a cool head,' he mused. 'But when it comes to cheering up a weeping femme, I just don't quite know how to cut it.'

He looked up when he heard a car coming, and he grimaced when he saw that it was Prowl.

Prowl halted, assessing the situation quickly. Aurion was upset, and Lennox was hurt. She needed to calm down, and he needed a medic.

"Come with me, Major; you need some medical attention." Prowl said, opening his passenger door. "Go on to the office, Aurion, and get started on the day's work."

"Y-yes, C-Commander." Auri said softly. She transformed and drove away.

Pulling up to the office and transforming, Auri held back her tears until she was indoors. She closed the door behind her as they spilled down her cheeks. The office, quiet and formal, seemed formidable without Prowl's steadying presence there.

"I failed," she whimpered to the keyboard as she typed the passwords in. "I acted rashly AND hurt a human. I… I failed as an Autobot, too, by hurting a person…!" she moaned and hung her head. It was too much to bear. She crumpled up on the floor and just cried. She sobbed and sobbed.

Prowl came in later. Auri heard him come over to within a yard of her head, but she was far too miserable to look up at him. And he didn't say anything.

Prowl stood looking down at his subordinate. Major Lennox had told him exactly what had happened and had taken all the blame for the incident, too. Aurion was crying like her best friends had gotten offlined. She was probably over-upset about her mistake.

Prowl crouched down. "Aurion," he said. She kept crying, but he decided to go on anyway. "Aurion, Major Lennox told me what happened," she started crying harder. Prowl felt a little disconcerted, but he went on. "Lennox is not pressing charges; in fact, he takes all the blame for what happened. As for the medical report, he simply states 'a femme' and does not say _which_ femme."

This did not help. It should have helped, but it did not. Prowl felt perplexed and slightly provoked. It was logical that good news would cheer the recipient up; it was illogical that it simply did not work.

Ironhide had said something about femmes and logic one time. What had it been? Prowl clearly remembered staring in shock at him and Chromia. Ironhide had apologized very nicely for something, but Chromia had grabbed his cannon and belted him across the face with the weapon before walking away with it.

"That was not logical," Prowl had said. And what had Ironhide said?

Prowl frowned, searching his memory banks. "_No, Prowlie, it wasn't. Femmes and logical rarely go hand-in-hand."_ Yes, that had been it.

He looked down at the femme-ling again. Surely there was some solution here.

He could always order her to stop crying and send her back to work. His commander programming suggested that route. That seemed too cold and uncaring. Well, he was cold, but he was starting to care a little bit. He wouldn't give orders just yet. There had to be a more gentle way.

The selfish part of his programming would have him ignore her until she went away, as with other problems. That was not an option. Giving the cold shoulder would not do at all, especially since she was still struggling with neglect from the past.

He was Second-in-Command, honestly! He dealt with two-hundred different difficulties and crises on a daily basis; he SHOULD be able to do SOMETHING about this femme-ling!

He was "at his wit's end," as the humans called it. None of his programs offered any usable solution. Memory data from previous experiences was just as unhelpful. Nothing. Nothing. Nothing. What else was available for him to access?

He could intercom somebody.

What? No! That was not an option. He was not about to intercom someone and say, "Commander Prowl here, I cannot seem to get this femme to stop crying." In the first place, he could not admit that he was unable to do something, and second place, whoever he contacted would think that he had made her cry and then they would jump all over him.

How complicated! If only there was a simple answer just this once.

Ironhide.

Ironhide had said that she would a break sometimes. There was the answer.

No.

If he sent her to take a break, she would think he was sending her away. That would only make her more upset.

::Prowl to Optimus Prime.:: Prowl sent over the intercom in a moment of desperation.

::Prime here, Commander. What can I do for you?:: Prime replied.

Was there no other option?

::Prowl…?:: Prime sent when no reply came.

::I… just want to make sure that you have not forgotten about the meeting at 3:00 PM.::

::Prowl, did we not speak of this before? I can remember my own schedule well enough. Mind your office, not mine.:: the tone was firm, but as gentle as ever.

::Yes, sir. Prowl out.::

Prowl twitched his wing-doors uncomfortably.

::Prime to Prowl.::

::Prowl here.:: Prowl replied.

::What is really going on? That meeting is at 3:30 PM.::

::What? 3:30? Oh, no. That is not good. I must fix something. Prowl out.:: Prowl did a mental face-palm as he closed the comm. line.

::Prime to Prowl.::

Oh, no, now what did the Autobot leader want to say?

::Prowl here.::

::You are not very good at lying.::

::No, sir.:: He knew that.

::What is going on?::

::I can handle it. Prowl out.::

::Prime to Prowl.::

Prowl shook his head. He was going to get through by himself.

::Prime to Prowl!::

Prowl hesitated.

::PROWL!::

No answer.

::Prowl,:: Prime sent over despite not receiving an answer, ::If nothing else, follow your spark. It has the answers. Prime out.::

Prowl scowled at the un-present Prime. Follow his spark? Surely not! Access the emotion-core part of his system and listen to it? That part of a bot that was most vulnerable and susceptible to injury? Inconceivable!

But Prime had said to do it.

He would not do that.

But Prime had said to do it.

Prowl lowered his head, tuning out the most heavily run of his systems and reaching for the more sensitive ones. Empathy…

She had hurt a human; she knew that was very, very wrong. Why, perhaps, she was thinking that this mistake would end her career in his office. If so, she thought her world was going to end.

Thus, of course she was upset.

How to calm her down?

How to make a rainstorm go away? That thought came from nowhere… random, illogical… he didn't like this route of listening to his spark; that's why he had left it. But, a rainstorm just had to take its course. You stood back, waiting patiently, and when it was done, you went out and everything was fresh and new.

His logic processor launched a tirade as such irrelevant nonsense. Then it recognized a similarity.

"Aurion," Prowl said.

No answer.

"Aurion, there is no pressure. Just have your cry."

Still no answer.

He reached out cautiously and rubbed her shoulder with two fingers. "It is okay. You are still keeping your job."

He rose and returned to his desk. He was forty minutes behind in his work now. That was dreadful, but he would overcome it. He would simply work overtime. Again.

His office was quiet as he worked, quiet except for an occasional soft sob or whimper from Aurion. For how long did femme-lings cry, anyway?

After half an hour, he could no longer endure it. He started to say something. No. He stopped himself. He had told her that there was no pressure. If he said anything about stopping, that would be putting pressure on her. His steeled himself and went on with his work. His spark suggested that she might need a hug, and he clamped down on it, locking it out. He never hugged anybody. Never, ever. Besides, if he hugged this femme-ling, certain humans would say, "Ah! Femme co-worker, eh? Uh-huh! It's nice being Second-in-Command, now, isn't it!" That he would never allow. He would know that they were wrong, but it would make Aurion uncomfortable and their situation very complicated.

After another half hour, Auri finished crying and was content to just lie crumpled on the floor, still and silent.

Prowl went over softly. He paused, uncertain, and then crouched down. "Better now?" he asked cautiously.

Auri shook her head.

Prowl's door-wings drooped. So that hadn't worked. He felt a little desperate. He wanted her up off the floor, too. He didn't like seeing bots on the floor. The floor was a sad place to be.

He was in command here, anyway. He could dictate.

"Here," he said firmly and rose. "Come on." He took hold of her upper-arms and pulled her to her feet. "Come, sit."

She kept her head down, but she allowed him to usher her to a chair. She scooted on to the chair and sat there with hanging head and drooping wings.

This was a little better than having her crumpled on the floor, Prowl decided. Then he saw another tear run down her cheek. OH, no…!

"Do not start that again." The order slipped out of his mouth before he fully thought about it.

"S-sorry…" she whispered, blinking her optic-shutters in an effort to stop the tears.

"I did not mean to say that," Prowl said, mentally kicking himself.

"Y-you meant it, though…" she wiped her arm across her face.

"Yes." Prowl admitted. He handed her a clean polishing cloth.

"Thank-you." She murmured, taking the cloth and applying it to her optics.

"You are welcome." Prowl clasped his hands. He sat in awkward silence for a couple minutes. Then he had to say something. "Did you hear what I said about Major Lennox?"

Auri nodded, still hidden behind the cloth. "Uh-huh… I mean, yes, commander." She said, starting to recover. She lowered her hands and the cloth and met his optics. "Yes, I did."

"Good. So, there is nothing to worry about then. Is there?" he asked, expecting her to see the logic.

Her head went down, and the cloth came up.

"Oh, no…! Now why are you crying?" Desperation was about to grab him.

"I c-cannot h-help-pit!" she sobbed. "I- s-sorry…!"

"Nevermind." Prowl said, pretending to not be frantic. "Just… just cry. You cry, and I will work. When you are ready to talk, please let me know."

"M-kay…" she curled up in the chair.

Prowl tried to work, but it was impossible. This went on for twenty minutes. Then he dropped his face down on the stack of data-pads and groaned. He snapped to attention. He could never do that while anyone was in the office. He darted a look towards Aurion. Had she seen that?

No. No, she had not. She had cried herself into recharge.

He sighed. Anyway… He put his head back down. He was two hours behind, and he had little chance of making Aurion feel any better… this was depressing…

Rest…

No…! Cannot rest… must stay and work…

Work…

He would rest for just a second.


	21. Chapter 21, Onwards

So there was some problem with the last chapter not showing up for a while, but I think that's over. I sure hope it is! It's not fun when the site doesn't work right. Sorry. :/

I have now seen the movie _THOR_ in the theater twice. IT IS GREAT! XD!

This is a really long chapter... :)

* * *

Chapter 21

**Onwards**

Auri came out of recharge feeling drained. She was also in a strange position. She shifted. Oh, she was in a chair. Hm. She remained still and replayed what had happened earlier that morning through her processors. That had been a terrible mistake, a dreadful mess. But Major Lennox was being kind and forgiving.

What if she did that to another person, though? She was very afraid of that. She thought about it for a little while. Then she realized that her fear would balance her actions. She wouldn't do again in all likelihood.

What about her job, though? Such a terrible mistake would surely put a black mark on her record, and Prowl would not tolerate some-bot who recklessly harmed a human. Wait… he had said something about her job. What was it?

She really could only remember crying and crying and not being able to stop because she was so upset about her actions. Her crying had disconcerted Prowl. Poor Prowl… he had been so patient with her all along. She processed a little more, and it came back to her. 'You are still keeping your job.' That is what he'd said. She smiled, but a little concerned frown pushed it way. Did he mean keeping for always? Or, did he just mean keeping it for the rest of the trail-week? She sorted it out; the trial week had only one day left, and he had reminded her that she had a full week. It would be going back on his word to take it away now. Thus he couldn't have been talking about it. So… that could only mean that he was talking about the actually job. She would have the job for keeps. She smiled, content.

Anyway, she would apologize to Major Lennox, and she would apologize to Prowl. Shifting in the chair, she grinned happily and opened her optics. Then she widened them with horror. She was in the office!

She had slipped into recharge in the office after crying too much. Uh-oh! Perhaps it would still be alright. She steadied her emotions and looked around.

She saw Prowl and stared at him. He was face-down on his stack of eternal data-pads. Was he okay? Auri slipped off the chair and went over to him. He was in recharge.

"Commander?" she asked tentatively, "Commander Prowl?"

No response.

"Hmm…" Now she really didn't know what to do. It was a regular recharge, not one induced by a systems crash, so that was a good sign.

She started to reach out to touch his shoulder to see if he would wake, but she decided not to. Nobody ever touched Prowl. It was part of his superiority complex, or so Auri supposed. Prowl was always keep-away, keep-away.

She tiptoed over to the main computer and started working very quietly. She always worked quietly, for Prowl liked it that way, but she was extra careful this time. The pattern in her work soothed her, and her work made her happy when she saw the good results.

She peeked over her shoulder and under her door-wing to see if Prowl was still in recharge. Yes, he was. Poor Prowl…

She had probably added to his stress-load a great deal, she realized. Well, she hoped she would prove to be a greater help than a hindrance. She worked a little faster than usual, well aware that all her dramatics had set her back well over two hours.

The phone rang.

"Uh-oh…." She turned and stared at the phone.

It rang again.

She stared at Prowl. Then she ran over to Prowl.

"Pst! Wake up!" she poked his arm.

The phone rang again, and Prowl didn't wake up.

The phone rang a fourth time.

"Prowl!" Auri had never answered the phone before.

It rang again. What would happen if she did pick it up?

It rang again. She braced herself and picked it up.

"Hello," she said, copying Prowl's extra-formal telephone voice perfectly. "NEST Base, Commander Prowl's office," That was how Prowl answered the phone, "Aurion-Blaze speaking." She added.

"Where's Prowl?" a strange man's voice snapped sharply.

She recoiled but spoke politely. "He is unavailable at the moment." She said, "Can I get your name and contact information, take a message, and/or have him call you back later, sir?" she offered.

"No. I wish to speak with Prowl, now." He ordered. She winced a little. This was not good. She could handle it though.

"I am sorry, sir; he is not available at present." She remained polite, "Do you wish to leave a message and contact information?"

"No, I do not!"

"I do apologize then; I will be unable to help you. Will that be all?"

There was a silence.

"Sir?" Auri asked after a moment. She really wanted him to go away, but she was going to do everything that she should do and could do for him for Prowl's sake.

"Tell him that Agent John Garrison called." The man said begrudgingly. "I need documents…" he went on to read an extensive list. Auri typed his words verbatim on a data-pad with one hand and looked up 'Agent John Garrison' in Prowl's files in the main computer with the other hand. He was quite an important, if not pushy, character. Pleasing him was essential.

"Have you got that all written down?" he questioned once he'd completed his read out.

"Yes, Agent Garrison. Do you wish me to read back to you what I have written?"

"Yes." He growled. That was cold. But, she read the whole list perfectly.

"Good." He said grimly, and then he added, "Don't forget to deliver the message."

"I will not." She replied. Then she smiled and went on, "In fact, I am very efficient. If you will provide me with the correct verification codes and personal passwords, I will send over documents A645, A735, A838, A893, A923, A993, and several others that you want that are available to my access."

"Ah… alright." He liked this, actually. He provided the passwords and codes.

"Very good. You should have the documents in a couple minutes. Is there anything else I can do for you, Agent Garrison?"

"Ah… no. Thank-you."

"You are welcome. Have a nice day, sir."

"Bye. -You, too." He hung up with that.

"Not so bad. I guess…" Auri commented after she'd returned the phone to its place. She sighed, relieved that it was over.

She went and worked on the computer some more. Then she pulled up the schedule for the day. Her optics widened. 'Prowl seriously needs to wake up right now, or he'll be working until one o'clock in the morning with all the stuff that's piled up and the meeting he has to attend!'

"Prowl," she went over to his desk. "Prowl!"

She sighed. "Come on, wake up, Commander." She hesitated and then shook his arm gently. That didn't bring any response.

She twitched her door-wings. Chromia usually gave Ironhide a good kick to wake him up. Dare she do that to Commander Prowl?

Well… she couldn't let him sleep and get behind in his work and miss his meeting and patrols.

"Wake up, Commander…" she said, "I'll start doing drastic things if you don't…" she touched his shoulder cautiously. "Oh, come on." Still nothing. She rubbed his shoulder a little bit. Then she pressed harder with her fingers, hoping the pressure would stir him.

"My, but you are tight and tense in through here… Prowl, you do work too hard." She murmured sympathetically. But then she got aggravated. "But you need to wake up, NOW! Arg, you're just too heavy for me to shake. You're going to be late! LATE!"

She huffed in exasperation and moved to climb on to his desk.

She grunted as she tried to get a toehold on the drawer-pull. "Oof." It wasn't easy climbing up on this desk; it was taller than the couch she slept on. She gasped as she almost slipped. "Arg," she finally pulled herself up and sat on the desk.

She frowned at her sleeping commander.

"Please don't fire me for this…" she asked, and then, bracing herself with her hands on the desk, she gave him a kick in the shoulder.

That really didn't do any good. Prowl still slumbered.

Auri pursed her lips then gave him a strong kick.

"Ngfh!" Prowl grunted and sat up with surly look on his face. He blinked in astonishment at the femme on his desk.

"Sorry," she said, tucking her chin, but keeping optic contact with wide, innocent optics. "It was the only way I could wake you up." She explained, "You have been out for almost an hour since I woke up."

"An hour?" his voice had a little growly note from lack of use.

Auri nodded.

Prowl twitched his door-wings and looked at his schedule.

"I am going to stay extra and help you get caught up." Auri told him solemnly.

"Ironhide will have a fit." Prowl stated grimly, starting to straighten out the data-pads and sort them. "I would not advise that."

"He is off-base right now."

"Oh." Prowl looked up as he suddenly realized something. "That explains your breakdown."

"It… does?" Auri gave him that confused look that he'd grown accustomed to.

"Yes. Sparklings need their creators to be nearby. Their creator-creation bond is very tight, but it gets lost if the parent is too far away. The sparkling cannot feel the bond and that upsets it very much, often to the point of emotional instability."

"Oh…?" She didn't quite get it.

Prowl sighed. "You have a bond with Ironhide, but it is just a new sparkling bond; it is a bit weak. His presence balances you and strengthens you, but when he moved out of range, your spark could not feel it. That is why your emotions went out of balance and you could not stop crying."

Auri raised her optic ridges at him. "Really?"

"I would never lie about something like that. Yes, really."

"Oh. Hm." That was interesting. So, now she knew. Now she could be prepared next time. But she felt like crying again when she thought of Will Lennox.

"Now what?" Prowl asked gently, seeing her facial expression changing.

"I feel terrible about hurting Major Lennox."

"He acted instinctively. You acted instinctively. He suffers only from a few bruises, a sprained wrist and a cracked finger bone… oh, no. Please don't cry! Those very small injuries for a human!"

"Honestly…?"

"Honestly, truly. Here, let us get started on our work, shall we?"

"Yes." She said. She heaved a deep sigh.

"It will all work out. You will learn. He will heal. We will get caught up. Good?"

"Good." She replied, half-smiling at the way he put things.

"Now, get off my desk."

She hopped off. "I must tell the twins that I will not be joining them"

"Go ahead."

Auri stepped aside for a moment and intercommed with her friends. She looked serious at first, but then she smiled.

Auri turned to Prowl. "It is settled with the twins. I will stay and help you. And they are taking my patrol for me."

Prowl looked a protest.

"It will work out." Auri reassured him, "They will do well for me because they are my friends."

"May it be so." He murmured.

"Anyway," Auri said, "Here is a message for you." she handed him the data-pad. "Some Agent John Garrison called,"

"Ah!" Prowl jerked his head up, his optics wide with horror, showing more expression than he usually allowed them to. "Agent John Garrison called, and you answered the phone?"

"Yes, Commander. I thought it might be terribly important, and you wouldn't wake up."

Prowl sighed and his door-wings drooped. "What happened?" he asked, sounding almost mournful.

Auri told him all that had happened.

"You…" Prowl started to say when she finished. "That is… I know you have a hard time dealing with harsh tones and still feel hurt by the man you dealt with on your first day. I… I am very impressed."

Auri grinned, too happy to say anything; Prowl had said that he was impressed.

"Hmm… here." Prowl said, "You may send him the rest of the documents; I will pull them up for you."

"Thank-you." She said. Inside her innermost being, she was whooping with glee and doing a victory dance.

OoOOooOooOOoO

Later that day, Auri leaned back in an office chair and sipped some Energon. Prowl slowly drained his while typing an email with one hand. He was extremely good at single-handed typing. Auri watched, impressed by this skill. She couldn't type single handedly nearly that well.

Prowl frowned and looked over at her. "I still have grave misgivings about letting the twins take both your patrol and mine."

"Please stop worrying about it." Auri said, "Besides, even if they don't do any good, it is only for one day." She reasoned.

Prowl turned back to his work, but he still disagreed. Auri emptied her Energon cube and returned to the main computer.

"Anyway, I think the twins are trustworthy for the most part." Auri added while the page loaded.

"It that why you wired bat-wings to your guardian's shoulders?"

Auri's face froze. "Mphf…" she had been under the impression that he wasn't going to say anything about that. "Uh, I did not do it alone. And… no comment. I am never going to prank with them again."

"That is reassuring."

"They do act immaturely, and they are often very careless, but when it comes down to the things that really count, they do the right things." She wanted to defend her friends.

She had a point, but Prowl was not inclined to actually verbalize his agreement.

"They do not always process things first, though." he said instead.

Auri nodded, "True…" she murmured. Then the short conversation was over.

They worked in silence. Then the twins burst in happily.

"That was fabulous!" Sides said, laughing with Sunny.

Prowl scowled at them.

"Dude, mech, we didn't anything wrong or bad!" Sunny protested, grinning. "Nobody believed us; it was awesome! It was like legal pranking! 'I'm pulling you over for speeding.' 'You can't do that; you're Sunstreaker, not Prowl.' 'Yeah, well, I'm working for Prowl today, so, bling!, there's your ticket!' HARHARHARHAR! HAHA! The looks on their faces!"

"YEAH-HAHAHAHA!" Sides chortled.

"Calm down." Prowl ordered. "Such an unseemly display will not be tolerated.

"Ahem! I do beg thine pardon." Sunny mocked, but he did calm done.

"Tickets, ticket, tickets." Sides said, placing a data-pad on Prowl's desk. "We catch more people and bots than you do, Prowl, because nobody slows down when they see us." He said smugly.

Prowl took the data-pad and examined its contents.

Sunny and Sides crossed their arms and smiled confidently at each other.

"Good work…" Prowl said. It had become habit with Auri around.

The twins gaped.

Prowl had said…?

Huge grins spread across the twins faces. "Hahaha!" they laughed for pure joy and the humor of their Autobot arch-enemy dropping them a little line of praise.

"Prowl, something is wrong," Auri said, turning from the computer with a slight frown.

Prowl rose and went over, pleased that she had not hesitated to express her concern.

"Con infiltrator!" Prowl said, his defense systems rising to the fore. "Quick, engage program X49kj3*GF… here,"

Sunny and Sides frowned with concern and came over, watching as Prowl worked to lock out the Decepticon hacker. The computer system was very important. If the cons got in, they could do some pretty serious damage. The NEST intranet was incredibly secure, the passwords and codes were constantly changing, not mention they had a firewall that virtually nobody could get by. This had to be bad.

"Blast," Prowl said softly. Auri looked at him is surprise, but, he continued working against the Con hacker. "No." More codes and figures.

"Go there!" Sunny exclaimed, pointing. "If you inject a jamming virus into this area of the system,"

"We do not have a…" Prowl typed quickly. "Virus?"

"Here," Sides holding a data-chip out to Prowl. "I have the remedy, too, so we can repair what it messes up."

Prowl met the twin's optics.

"I promise, Prowl." Sides vowed solemnly. Prowl took the chip, inserted it, and activated the virus.

"Then we can work back from here," Sunny murmured.

"Secondary firewalls…" Prowl said, "Activated. This is a fast virus."

"Yeah."

Prowl worked quickly. The twins watched the screen, their optics wide and concerned. Blast those cons!

The room filled with apprehensive silence as Prowl battled the online infiltrator. Then Prowl half-smirked.

"Good-bye." He said with more satisfaction than anybody had ever heard him express.

"WOO-HOO!" Sides whooped.

"YEAH! NICE, Prowl!" Sunny cheered. Auri clapped her hands and grinned at the three mechs.

Prowl half-smiled. "Well, thank-you for the use of this virus," he said, an ironic look crossing his face as he held up the data-chip.

"Err…" "Yeah…" the twins traded uncomfortable looks. "Uh, anytime."

Prowl handed the contraband back to the twins.

"Y-you're not confiscating it?" Sides asked, astonished.

Prowl shook his head. "Make me a copy. We may need it again."

The twins nodded, dumbfounded.

"I will require your help in shutting down the virus." Prowl told them.

They nodded again, still dumbfounded.

Prowl turned to Auri, "Aurion, good catch; thank-you for acting so quickly."

Auri smiled and nodded. "Thank-you."

Auri and Prowl watched as the twins locked down the virus and exterminated it. "There you go." Sunny said, gesturing eloquently.

"Good." Prowl said. "Thank-you."

The twins murmured their willingness to help any time.

Prowl shrugged it off.

"Aurion," he said, "See if you can pin-point the Con's access point. Scan the basic system then check the most heavily used areas. There may have been an insecure connection somewhere."

"Yes, Commander." Auri said, resuming her place at the computer. Prowl went back and sat at his desk.

He looked over to the twins, about to tell them to go on and leave, but the looks on their faces made him pause. They looked like they were going to be very sick.

"Are you unwell?" he asked.

"W-we're gonna be…" Sides murmured. Sunny went over and pointed something out to Auri.

"Uh-oh…" Auri said, looking distressed. "You two…"

"It's our fault, Prowl." Sunny said. "We… uh, we saw that some of the Con Seekers had added themselves to Facebook, and… so… so…. Aw…mech…" he groaned and clapped his hands over his optics.

"We hacked their accounts and messed with their settings." Sides went on since his twin couldn't bear to continue. "They got through that connection."

Prowl covered his face in exasperation. "That … that was a _trap_. How… How. Could. You. Be. So. Stupid!"

"Not processing, I guess." Sunny murmured. "I'm sorry… really, really sorry."

"Same here." Sides said quietly.

Prowl looked up at the twins. He was ready to ban them from using the internet for the next two weeks and confiscate their video-games on top of it for extra punishment. Their faces were solemn and sincere, and their expressions told him that they KNEW they had something coming to them. He could tell that they were genuinely sorry though. And he knew that they were reasonably good Autobots and that they would never intentionally do something to harm the internet security.

Prowl looked down at his small computer. The virus had either damaged or affected a little over 3,700 of the files. That was an awful lot.

"Sunstreaker, Sideswipe," he said, looking back up at them again. "You two will spend at least four hours a day helping me with recovering these files until we are done."

They nodded. That was a reasonable start. What else was he going to do to them?

"Today has been rather chaotic, so we will start on them tomorrow. Understood?"

"Y-yes, Commander. Understood." "Understood."

"Very well. Go on."

The twins looked at each other, confused.

"Is there some question?" Prowl asked when they didn't immediately leave.

"Yes. Uh, is that all the punishment we are to expect?" Sunny asked.

Prowl nodded. "That thing with the internet was a mistake, not intentional, and I believe it is a mistake you will not make again."

"No, sir. We will definitely **not** be making it again!"

"So, then, that is all."

"Thanks, Prowl." "Yes, thank-you."

"Please stay out of trouble for the rest of the day."

"We'll try." The twins said. "We'll take **all** your patrols, today. That'll keep us busy." They went out the door and shut it behind themselves.

"That was really nice of you, Prowl." Auri said softly from her place at the computer. She knew he was usually inclined to be hard on the twins because they constantly harassed him or broke his rules.

"I surprised myself." Prowl said.

"You really surprised them. I think it might have a good effect on them."

"Your continual optimism never ceases to astonish me." Prowl replied, shaking his head.

Auri smiled over her shoulder. He was being pessimistic again, but she could take what he said as a complement.


	22. Chapter 22, Just Stunning

Chapter 22

**Just Stunning**

"Do you ever get bored, working here all day?" Auri asked. She'd never stayed in the office this long.

"No." Prowl replied, handing her some data-pads. She walked off with them to add them to the computer. "Are you bored?" he asked, after a second thought.

She grinned at him. "No, I've been too busy. I was just wondering, for you are in here all the time."

"Not entirely all the time." Prowl corrected.

Auri shrugged a shoulder, "You know what I meant."

Prowl frowned at her.

"I apologize." Auri said, realizing that she'd overstepped.

"Just because I 'went easy' on the twins does not mean I have become some great softie."

"Understood, Commander." Auri replied, turning away. She smiled to herself. The twins were still awestruck. They had intercommed her twice since leaving. They still couldn't believe that Prowl was letting them off so easily. Sure, they had to patch up 3,700 damaged files, but that was comparatively nothing! No brig-time, no grounding, no confiscations.

"You are feeling better?" Prowl asked her, having heard the smile in her tone.

"Yes, thank-you." She replied.

"Good."

She was feeling much better. The terrible brush up with Major Lennox seemed like it had taken place days ago instead of hours ago. The Major had actually come over to visit for a few minutes. His hand and wrist had been bound up, but he had been cheerful and friendly. Auri had apologized, and he's told her that it was alright. Auri sighed to herself. Things were good.

Ironhide came in.

"I'HIDE!" Auri squealed happily, making Prowl twitch. She ran over, and Ironhide scooped her up to cuddle her.

"Hello, my precious little one!" He greeted, tucking his head against her shoulder, "Miss me?" he teased, tickling her side.

She giggled. Then she felt him stiffen. "What are you doing here, anyway?" he asked, his tone growing stern. She was supposed to have been finished with work here two hours ago. He shifted his hold on her to look her in the face. "You've been crying." He said. She saw a dangerous look appear in his optics.

"N-no, it's okay!" she protested.

He put her down firmly and stepped towards Prowl's desk. "Ironhide-!" she yelped.

"**PROWL!" **Auri hadn't heard Ironhide roar like this since he was fighting the Decepticons when she first met him.

Prowl spun his chair and jumped down to hide behind the side of his desk. "Calm down!" he yelled.

"**PROWL! What did I tell you about overtime?" **Ironhide roared, stomping over to the desk.

Prowl scrambled to the other side. "She-"

"**I make very few rules but I expect ALL of them to be followed!" **Ironhide darted around the corner.

Prowl was rather quick for a bot on all fours but still received a forceful kick. He got out of range. "I-"

"**AND I ****particularly ****expected the rule about not making MYAURI cry to be kept!" **Ironhide shoved the desk. It moved half a inch.

Prowl winced and kept still, pressing his back against the front of his desk. "I tr-"

"**I WAS VERY CLEAR! WAS I NOT?"** Ironhide came over the top of the desk.

Prowl evaded him by squeezing under the front panel of the desk to get to the other side. "Let me get a word in edgewise!" Prowl protested, popping his head up to scowl at Ironhide.

The bigger mech grabbed Prowl by the chest-plating and dragged him part way over the desk. "Ngh!" Prowl gasped.

"**WAS I NOT CLEAR?" **Ironhide thundered.

"You were! Let me go!"

"**Not a CHANCE!" **

"LET ME GO!" Prowl yelled.

"**I'm NOT letting you go till I'm done with you!" **

"I PULL RANK!" Prowl howled, starting to kick.

"**I pull ****SIZE****!" **

"NO-!"

Ironhide's free hand came up as he jerked the smaller mech a little closer.

A slight ton and an eighth of weight dropped firmly on the small of his back. "NGH!" Prowl grunted.

"No! You! Don't!" Auri said from his back.

Prowl attempted to say something, but his vocal processors had jammed under the strain.

"Move, Auri." Ironhide ordered.

"No, sir." Auri's feet dug into Prowl's sides a little.

"Little one, you listen to me."

"You unhand and release Prowl first." She said doggedly.

"Aurion." Ironhide said in a grim tone.

Prowl felt Auri's hand brush his upper leg as she accessed the subspace field holster that held his stun-gun. '_What?_ IS SHE DOING?'

"St-and d-down." Auri ordered unsteadily. Then she squeaked and Prowl heard the trigger click on his stun-gun, followed by a short, shocked sound from Ironhide's vocal processors.

Then the nearly five ton mech collapsed, smashing down on Prowl's upper body with a hard clatter of armoring. A soft 'clunk' followed.

"Ouch." Prowl groaned dully. "Aurion?"

No answer.

Oh, but of course. When she stunned Ironhide, Ironhide had his hand on Prowl's chest plating, and she had her seat on his back plating. The current had run through them and stunned her as well. That's what that soft clunk had been: Auri falling forward on top of Ironhide.

He was still on only because the stun-gun was specially calibrated; it could not be used against him without being recalibrated, and he could use it on bots that he was touching without stunning himself, too.

Ironhide's dead weight was squashing him.

"Woe is me…" Prowl kicked his left foot feebly. He couldn't move anything except his legs and arms. A lot of good that would do. He was pinned down by a ton of femme and several tons of mech. He had no traction under foot, either, prostrate over his desk like this.

He remotely engaged the lock on the doors so nobody could come in and find him in this terrible predicament.

He tried to figure out if this was worse, or the after-armor busting Ironhide had planned to give him would have been worse. He wasn't sure. There was the adverse affect of Auri seeing her guardian hitting another bot in anger. But then, she idolized Ironhide, and he could do no wrong in her optics. It might upset her a little, but the next day everything would be alright. Ironhide would apologize and be very sweet. He would be genuinely sorry, too, about hitting Prowl.

Anyway, he had no idea what was going to happen when the two bots on top of him woke up. Who would come on first, he wondered. Ironhide was bigger, but Aurion had only received the charge third-hand. He couldn't calculate it at the moment.

She had a lot cable, this little one, to shoot Ironhide with his, Prowl's, stun-gun. People called it 'nerve.'

::Prime to Prowl.:: A message came over the intercom.

::Prowl here.:: Prowl replied, not panicking. It's was rather impossible to panic effectively while under some many tons of bot, anyway.

::Are you coming to the meeting?:: Prime asked.

"Ah…" Prowl said aloud. It was 3:40 PM. The meeting had started ten minutes ago.

::Probably not, sir.:: Prowl replied.

::Prowl?:: Prime's tone was incredulous.

::Yes, sir. This is Prowl. Something has come up, and I cannot leave my office.::

'Actually,' Prowl thought, 'It is more like, some things have come down…'

::Alright. Comm. me if you need me.:: Prime sent.

::Yes, sir.::

::Prime out.::

Prowl sighed. He tried shifting his hips, but that hurt, and Auri was weighing his back down too much.

He could figure out what to say to Ironhide when the Weapon's Specialist came back on. He groaned. There was no telling what kind of mood the trigger-happy mech would be in.

Maybe Aurion would come on first! That would be good! She could help him out from underneath Ironhide, and then they could immobilize him before he came on so they would have half a chance of talking to him.

Prime knocked on the office door. "Prowl?"

"Come in!" Prowl called, muffled by Ironhide's vast form.

"It's locked."

"You have an override code!" Prowl called back, gasping a little at the effort.

Presently he heard the door open, Prime came in, and the door shut quickly.

"Prowl?" Optimus asked, sounding astonished as he rushed over.

"Get him off, please?" Prowl begged, "Her, too, but she's not hurting my chest."

Optimus pulled Ironhide's huge form off his poor Second-in-Command and lay it gently down on the floor.

Prowl put his head up. "Thank-you." He said desperately.

"What happened?" Optimus asked, moving around to the other side of the desk to deal with Auri's form.

"He came in and saw that she had been crying, and then he went ballistic. He was about to bust my after-plating when she decided to intervene. He wouldn't listen to her, either, so she grabbed my stun-gun and shot him."

"Knocking herself out, as well." Optimus added.

"Uh-huh." Prowl murmured. "What is taking so long?"

"She really dug her little feet into your side and she still has quite a grip."

"Oh."

"It will be a minute. She's so small that I'm afraid I might hurt her."

Prowl felt Auri shift. "I think she is coming back on."

*click*

"AH!" Optimus yelped.

"Prime?" Prowl asked, "_**OW!**_" he roared as Prime fell across his legs. Then the Autobot leader slid off and landed on the floor with a heavy thud.

"Mphf. Somebody _please_ tell me that Aurion did not just shoot Optimus Prime with my stun-gun."

Silence.

She had.

Prowl groaned. So, his rump hurt from where Ironhide had kicked him, his upper body ached where Ironhide had fallen on him, and now his legs hurt where Prime had fallen on them. He thought his right, lower secondary leg-strut might be cracked.

Should he call Ratchet? No, Ratchet would be in the meeting that he and Prime were supposed to be in, and somebody should be there.

He could probably get Aurion off his back. He twisted a little and found her foot. He worked carefully and got free of her right leg. He twisted the other way and loosed himself of her left leg.

"My whole body hurts." Prowl muttered. He tried to pull Aurion off, but his shoulders screamed pain at him. His leg screamed pain when he pushed with it to try and roll over. "Ow." He said flatly.

He set his jaw and rolled over, pulling Auri towards his side as he did so.

"There," he sat up, dangling his legs over the edge of his desk, and he was free. "Oof!" he caught Auri by the door-wing connector as she started to fall.

Now what? Prowl leaned forward a little. If he let go, Aurion would fall on top of Prime. He didn't want to do that. He would just hang on to her for the time being. His upper body hurt too much for him to exert the effort to pull her up onto the desk.

The Weapon's Specialist was out on the floor behind him. The last Prime was out on the floor beside his desk. His helper was out and lying across his knees.

And the twins were taking his patrol shift!

_ARG!_

"Mmm…" Auri stirred a little.

"Careful; be still. I might drop you if you move too much."

"What…?" Auri asked. She picked her head up and looked up at him.

"It was this or dropping you on top of Prime."

"Oh," she moved a little, and Prowl helped her onto his desk with a wince.

She sat down beside him, dangling her legs over the edge, too. "I don't feel good." She said.

"There is no reason why you should." Prowl replied, gently. "You just stunned two huge mechs in a row, and because they were touching me or you, the charge carried over and knocked you out as well."

"Whoa." Auri said, still a little dazed. She looked as the stun-gun in her hand.

"The first time it was third-hand stun; you shot Ironhide, who was touching me, who was touching you."

"Sorry about that, by the way. It was the first thing that I thought of."

"Do not worry about it." Prowl said then went on, "The second time, Prime had his hand on you when you shot him, so that is second-hand stun."

"Oh." Auri said. The she paused. "I shot Prime?"

"Yes."

"Optimus Prime…" She said, still trying to gather her wits. "Uh-oh," She murmured. Then she was quiet and peered over the edge of the desk at the prostrate Prime. That was not good, shooting a Prime with his Second-in-Command's stun-gun. And shooting her guardian with the Second-in-Command's stun-gun wasn't that good either. And she knocked herself out twice, too. ...There was something a little amusing about, though. She giggled.

"Huh?" Prowl said, "You think that is humorous?"

"Well…" her smile wavered. "It sort of is…"

Prowl re-examined the situation. Ironhide jumps to conclusions, Auri stuns Ironhide and inadvertently herself; Prime comes to rescue them, Auri stuns Prime and inadvertently herself (again). He smirked a little. Perhaps it could be viewed as funny. Actually…

(His logic processor was a little shot by now and was running on its lowest level.)

Prowl chuckled softly. It was rather comical, processing it a different way.

Auri laughed softly alongside him.

"Oh, give that to me." Prowl said, motioning for the stun-gun. "I will set it so it cannot hurt you."

Auri watched as he added a second program to the gun after scanning her.

"There." He said after several moments. "Now it will not knock you out if you borrow it again."

"Thank-you," she said, smiling, still amused.

"Rrrmphf…"

The two patrol car bots fell quiet at the sound and turned to look at Ironhide. He was just starting to come on.

Auri looked at Prowl at the same time he looked at her.

"Hide." They both said. Prowl slipped off his desk with a wince and landed on Prime; Auri slipped down, landing beside him on Prime. They carefully climbed off their great leader and under the desk, crouching to fit in.

Auri put her hands over her mouth.

"Kept quiet." Prowl whispered.

She nodded. Her optics sparkled with amusement though.

They heard Ironhide groan and pick himself up.

"What the…?" he sounded confused. "Hmm…"

They heard him shift his body as he looked around.

"Optimus?" he came over.

'Uh-oh,' Auri mouthed. Prowl pointed to the front of the desk where they could squeeze out, and then he motioned that she wait his signal. Auri nodded.

Ironhide chuckled, "Don't tell me she hit you with Prowlie's stun-gun, too."

Auri raised her optics-ridges at Prowl. 'Prowlie?'

Prowl shook his head ever so slightly. 'Don't ask.'

Ironhide moved a little closer. The two bots in hiding could see most of him now. He was going to crouch down beside Prime in another moment.

'Go,' Prowl motioned as Ironhide crouched down. They both slipped under the front of the desk, the sound of Ironhide's motions masking theirs from him.

Auri looked to Prowl. 'Now what?'

'Wait.'

They sat as if frozen in front of the desk while Ironhide checked on Prime's condition, behind the desk.

The office door came open. Prowl wished Prime had had the forethought to relock the door.

Chromia and Elita walked in, obviously looking for their spark-mates.

Then they stopped short, their optics widening as they saw Prowl and Auri. Auri smiled awkwardly.

"Ah, what are you doing?" Chromia asked, giving Prowl and Auri an extremely odd look.

"Good question," Ironhide said standing up from behind the desk. Chromia's mouth formed an O, and she looked further confused. Elita rubbed her head.

"It appears that some-bot has stunned Optimus and ran off." Ironhide said.

Prowl tried not to grimace. Auri did grimace.

"Wow, why would some-bot do that?" Chromia asked, her voice sounding a little strange as she eyed the two monochromatic bots frozen at the front of the desk.

"Ah, I don't know. I was lying stunned on the floor when it happened." He replied.

"So…" Elita said, raising an optic ridge at Prowl and Auri, "Some-bot stunned you, and then Prime came in, and then some-bot stunned him, is that it?"

Auri nodded silently.

"Yeah." Ironhide said, rubbing his head. He felt a little perplexed himself.

"So. Ah… did you see who stunned you?" Chromia asked, looking a little cross-eyed at Prowl.

"Uh…" Ironhide started. He wasn't so sure that he wanted to say who.

"Ouch." Optimus said, coming on and picking himself up. Ironhide gave him a hand and steadied him.

"Hi, Pax, what hit you?" Elita asked.

"A heavy duty stun-gun." He answered, "Are you alright, Ironhide?"

"I think so." Ironhide said. "She hit me at pretty close range in the face. Prowl needs to teach her how to use that thing properly."

"He should calibrate it to not stun her either." Optimus said seriously.

"You mean it stunned her, too!" Ironhide cried in dismay.

"Yes. You two were both off when I came in. I pulled you off Prowl, and I was picking her up when she came back on. That's when she stunned me.

Chromia and Elita were gazing down at Auri and Prowl with some odd, bewildered wonder. "Are you talking about Auri?" Chromia asked. Prowl shuttered his optics for a moment. Auri nodded silently.

"Yes." Ironhide said, frowning. "I came in here and found her working, and it was plain that she had been crying a whole lot." He told them. "I… I lost my temper at Prowl and was gonna thrash him for it." He said, his voice tinged with regret. "I dragged him across the desk and was going to bust his tail when she jumped on top of him and ordered me to let him go and stand down."

Chromia smirked at Auri, admiring such spunk. Elita smiled, amused. Prowl got some rather skeptical looks though.

"Oh, you know me," Ironhide groaned, "I'm incorrigible. I wouldn't, so she whipped out his stun-gun and let me have it."

"Hm." Optimus mused.

"And what is your story?" Elita asked Optimus.

"Prowl didn't show for the meeting, and when I intercommed him, he said he couldn't come. Right off I knew something was wrong, so I came over. I dragged Ironhide's heavy chassis off my poor Second, and then I was pulling Auri off him when she came on and stunned me."

"Ah." Elita said in an enlightened tone.

"Most interesting." Chromia said brightly.

"I could've handled myself better." Ironhide reflected.

Optimus rubbed his old friend's shoulder. "All of us are still learning, Ironhide."

"Yes," Ironhide said solemnly. "But I wish my homework didn't always turn out so messy." He sighed. "Ah, well."

"So, now what?" Chromia asked.

"I've got to find Prowl and Auri, apologize to them, and find out –calmly- what happened." Ironhide answered.

"That sounds like a good plan." Optimus told him.

He nodded slowly.

"I think now would be an okay time to show ourselves," Auri whispered to Prowl. Everybody in the room heard her. Prowl covered his optics.

Ironhide leaned over the desk and peered down at the two. "Hi, younglings." He said.

"Hi," Auri answered, smiling up at him.

Ironhide paused. "Prowl?"

"I am in extensive pain." Prowl said coldly. "You kicked me, you fell on my upper body because Aurion stunned you because you were being a menace, and Prime fell on my legs because Aurion stunned him because he was picking up her up while she was off because she knocked herself out when she stunned you because you were being a menace."

Chromia and Elita traded looks and slipped out of the office.

Optimus patted Ironhide's shoulder, murmuring some words of encouragement, and then he, too, slipped out of the office.

Ironhide came somberly around to the front of the desk and paused. Auri looked up at him with a concerned look. Prowl didn't look at him at all.

The Weapon's Specialist knew he was in it deep. He lowered himself to the floor, sitting down with his feet tucked under him.

"I…" he faltered.

Auri gave him encouraging nod. She felt badly for her guardian and wanted things patched up as soon as possible.

"Auri," he said softly, "I… I lost my temper, and that was wrong. I apologize to you, my little spark, for not stopping to listen to you, for frightening you, and causing you undue stress. Please forgive me."

"I forgive you." She said without hesitation as she jumped up to hug him. She wrapped her arms tightly around his neck, and he cuddled her gently in return.

"Thank-you," he whispered.

"Uh-huh; any time." She said, letting go slowly. He set her down to the side. Now he had to face Prowl.

"Prowl…" Ironhide said, feeling like six tons of metal was sitting on his shoulders and weighing him down. "Prowl, for all the wrong that I have done to you today I apologize. I should have listened, not accused; I should have processed, not reacted; I should waited, not attacked. I am sorry that I hurt you. I am sorry that I brought you low before an audience. I am sorry that the results of my actions brought you further pain. I deeply regret my actions, and I will endeavor to make sure that I do not repeat them. Please forgive me."

Prowl was silent for several moments before he spoke.

"Apology accepted." He said quietly, but that was all.

Ironhide sighed, saddened. He hadn't done well enough.

"Prowl… I'm really sorry." He said softly, reaching out to touch the hurt commander's arm.

Prowl didn't pull away, but he looked up at Ironhide.

"Please…?" Ironhide asked.

Prowl looked down. There was no begrudging tone in his voice when he spoke again. "I forgive you, Ironhide." He said.

"Thank-you." Ironhide held out his hand. Prowl took it. "Sorry about my temper." Ironhide added.

Prowl nodded as he drew his hand back. "I knew that was one of the risks I would face when I hired Aurion." He said with a half-smile.

Ironhide sighed. "Yeah." Auri came to give her guardian another hug. He put his arm around her, snuggling her as he gazed at Prowl, wondering what to do next.

"Take me to Ratchet, please?" Prowl asked, sounding vulnerable, not like the indomitable Second-in-Command he usually was.

"Uh-huh." Ironhide said. He gave Auri a pat and then rose as she stepped back. Prowl held out a hand, and Ironhide helped the weary patrol bot to his feet.

"I protest…!" Prowl objected when Ironhide bowed and lifted him, putting him over his shoulder to carry.

"Calm down." Ironhide told him. "You've got a cracked leg strut, and bruising everywhere else. I'm not about to let you limp over to Med-Bay."

"Mmmphf." Prowl grumped, but he put his head down and let his systems relax a little. "Lock down, shut down, turn off… etc. - close everything up, Aurion." He said. "We are done for the day."

"Yes, sir." Auri said. Not that there was much left in the day. She was going to go to bed as soon as she finished in the office. It would be a little early for going to bed, but she felt more than ready for it, after all that had happened.


	23. Chapter 23, Stormy

I watched _Ironman_ last night instead of posting this; I _had_ intended to post it last night, but then my sister said, "Hey, are you gonna watch _Ironman_ with us?" and I said yes. I like _Ironman_. And then when I got back on the computer, MisCrasyaboutfanfics had sent me the next chapter of "Meeting Auri" to beta so she could post it soon. So I did that, enjoyed it, and then it was pretty late. But, also, Silent Hunter reviewed last chapter and mentioned ol' Ratchet. I really hadn't planned on going on to Med-Bay and following the story there, but since she brought it up, I decided that I would do it. Thanks, by the way, good idea! :)

And now instead of "Chapter 23, Storms and Sunshine," I have "Chapter 23, Stormy" and "Chapter 24, Sunshine." …the story grows ever longer… :)

Hey, MisCrasyaboutfanfics just posted chapter two of "Meeting Auri." Check it out, too! Her OC and Sideways meet up with Auri in that story.

* * *

Chapter 23

**Stormy**

The Weapons' Specialist, with the Second-in-Command lying over his shoulder, looked around before stepping out into the street. Prowl had had a rough enough day without getting teased for being lugged around like sparkling.

The way was clear, for it was rather late in the day. Ironhide went out and shut the door behind himself. He took a less direct route to Med-Bay, avoiding the more heavily traveled areas. He really didn't like less direct routes, but he knew that Prowl would appreciate it.

Prowl seemed rather limp though.

"Prowl? You still on?" Ironhide asked.

"Mm-hm." Prowl replied.

Ironhide smiled. Yeah, Prowl was still on, but not by much. "My femme-ling wear you out?" he asked, teasing a little.

Prowl shifted, realizing that he had been falling into recharge. "Yes, a little bit. I am growing used to her, however. I think having her in the office will be a good thing in the long run."

"You amaze me, Prowl." Ironhide was grinning. "She strains your logic processor and messes up your file-system, misplaces your favorite data-pad and doesn't understand half of what you say so that you have to explain yourself twice, and…."

"Swipes my stun-gun and knocks out two huge mechs on top of me, but I still want her?" Prowl finished for him. "Yes." He answered simply. "She shows great potential, she is eager to learn, and she learns quickly. She will be quite an asset to my office. She is _almost_ an asset now."

"I'm glad to hear that." Ironhide murmured, feeling pride welling up over his little femme-ling again.

"Besides, she did not misplace my favorite data-pad. She misplaced _her_ favorite data-pad." Prowl argued.

Ironhide grinned suddenly. Prowl's logic system must have been half-way shut down, or he never would have said that. It had, of course, been an unnecessary thing to say. Prowl was fun when his logic system was half-way shut down.

"Data-pad number N25 was your favorite, though, I recall." Ironhide said, still grinning.

"It is _hers_." Prowl replied.

"I have an accurate memory. It was yours."

"I have little preference regarding data-pads."

"Yes, but you did like that one." Ironhide said, grinning more as he relentlessly pursued the argument with Prowl.

He felt Prowl twist ever so slightly.

"She liked it better." Prowl said.

Ironhide's grin slipped away and thoughtful smile replaced it. Prowl could have given the little femme any one of the countless data-pads, but he had chosen to give her the one she liked the best. That was remarkably nice for Prowl.

Prowl slammed his elbow into the back of Ironhide's head.

"OW!" Ironhide yelped, ducking his head. He hit Prowl with the flat of his hand. "What was that for, you brat?"

"It is aggravating enough having the humans smirk at her and me for working together without _you_ smirking about it, too!" Prowl protested.

Ironhide shook his head. "I was simply impressed that you had been nice without having to. I was not pairing you two up." He said seriously.

"Oh. Sorry for hitting you then." Prowl muttered.

"It's okay." Ironhide said. "I was picking on you a bit back there." He admitted as he opened the Med-Bay door. He slipped in and looked around the reception area. It was quite deserted.

He went to the next door and pushed it open, looking in. "Hey, Ratch!" he called, seeing the medic talking with his the other two younger medics, Jolt and First Aid.

"What, Ironhide?" Ratchet asked, not sure whether he sure be concerned or annoyed with the weapons' specialist.

"I brought you something."

"Oh, I'm thrilled, I'm sure." Ratchet said.

Ironhide stepped in.

"Prowl!" Ratchet yelped. Jolt and First Aid gazed on in astonishment.

"I am fine." Prowl said. "I just ache all over and have a cracked leg strut."

"Oh, he's fine, he says." Ratchet said sarcastically. "And Ironhide is carrying him."

"Be nice." Ironhide ordered the medic. "He asked to be brought here; don't make him regret it."

Ironhide gently set the black and white bot on his feet but kept a supporting hand on his shoulder as Ratchet came over. The other two medics slipped away, having been dismissed.

"Have a seat." Ratchet told Prowl, motioning to the nearest berth.

"No, thank-you." Prowl said, leaning on Ironhide.

Ratchet set his arms akimbo. "That was not an offer; that was an order."

"I literally kicked his rump." Ironhide admitted, looking away.

Ratchet put a palm to his face in exasperation. "Lie down then." He told Prowl.

"I will stand." Prowl said. He wasn't about to lie down on one of those berths; Ratchet would put restraints on him as soon as he did. Ratchet always did that.

"I can't very well attend your leg with you standing on it. Either sit or lie; stand is not an option."

"I think I shall leave." Prowl said crossly, starting to move away. Ironhide clamped both hands on his shoulders.

"No, you _shall_ not." Ironhide said. "You will stay, and Ratchet will look after, like it or not!"

"I can tend a cracked leg-strut myself." Prowl stated, and it was true. "Other than that I just need some pain-reliever and a good night's rest." He added, and that was true as well.

"I brought you here; you're gonna be looked after here." Ironhide said. "Are you gonna get on that berth, or shall I pick you up again and put you on it."

Prowl twitched his wings in indignation. "I refuse." He said. "Ratchet always puts restraints on me, AND I HATE RESTRAINTS!"

The bigger mechs looked concerned as Prowl yelled. The Second-in-Command rarely yelled, and then it was never about something he personally didn't like. He was worn out, no doubt about that, and he needed some gentle care and extra consideration.

"Sorry about that, Prowl." Ratchet said gently. "We always have to drag you into Med-Bay, and we only restrain you because you try to run off otherwise." He explained.

Prowl's door-wings drooped and his head lowered. He didn't say anything. He was so very tired of this.

"I promise I won't put restraints on if you won't run away." Ratchet tried. Prowl didn't say anything. "Okay?" Ratchet prompted.

"Okay…" Prowl nodded reluctantly. Ironhide put him on the berth. He squirmed instinctively, but Ironhide rubbed his shoulder reassuringly.

"It's alright; it's alright." Ironhide encouraged him as he would a frightened sparkling. He relaxed and laid still.

Ratchet injected pain-killers into his system. "Better now?" the medic asked.

"Huh-uh… not yet."

::He's showing symptoms of regression.:: Ratchet commented to Ironhide over the intercom.

::You mean he's acting like a sparkling? He's pretty worn out. I think the stress and events of the day may have triggered 'symptoms of regression.':: Ironhide responded.

::Poor Prowlie.::

Ratchet carefully removed Prowl's leg armoring to reveal the inner workings of his leg. "That's cracked alright… What happened?"

"It is a very long story." Prowl said, sounding more like himself. Ratchet smiled; the pain-killers had kicked in.

"We have quite a bit of time." Ratchet said. "Go ahead and tell it."

"It started early this morning." Prowl said. "Ironhide left, and Auri's spark missed his guardian presence, so her emotional core got unbalanced…" he went on and told about the brush up with Lennox, Auri crying, them both falling into recharge, her waking him up, the twins and the Con hacker, eventually getting to the part where Ironhide came in and then the part where Auri got his stun-gun.

Ratchet kept pausing in amazement throughout the story, but he stopped working to stare at Prowl as he narrated the final part.

"That is all." Prowl finished.

"That's all?" Ratchet exclaimed. "Prowl! You have a talent for understatement!"

"Thank-you." Prowl murmured.

Ratchet shook his head. "What are we going to do with you?"

"Send me to bed." Prowl replied logically.

Ratchet sighed and shook his head again. He finished up with Prowl and told him that he could go.

"Thank-you." Prowl said. Ironhide helped him up and to his feet, giving him a quick, gentle hug before letting him go.

"Good night, Prowl-bot. I hope you feel better in the morning." Ironhide said.

"Good-night." Prowl said. He limped a little, but that did not seem to bother him much. He left.

Ratchet cleaned his hands and leaned on a berth, looking at Ironhide. Ironhide gazed back in companionable silence.

"Whatchya got to say?" Ratchet asked.

Ironhide shook his head. "I'm a little amazed. I didn't know that my leaving would affect her so much. ...I had no idea."

Ratchet nodded. "Bumblebee was stronger and didn't feel a need for you as much, so it didn't affect him terribly when you went away. You were probably expecting the same from little Auri."

"Yeah… I guess so." Ironhide agreed thoughtfully. "Ah, how I wish I'd not reacted so violently!" he burst out a moment later.

"Well, 'Hider, you are a guardian now, and you already have an issue with hyperprotectivity."

"Hyper… come again?"

"You are protective to the extreme. Hyper-protective."

"Ah."

"Add hyperprotectivity to guardian protectiveness, and everybody better duck if something happens to your sparkling."

Ironhide smiled halfway.

"Did you feel any separation anxiety while you were gone?" the medic asked a couple moments later.

Ironhide lowered his head. "Y'know… come to think of it, I must have. I didn't recognize it as such, but now that you mention it, I do realize that I was more uptight and snarky."

"We have progress; you know now, and Auri knows now, how separation affects the both of you; now you two can be prepared for next time."

'I don't wanna next time…" Ironhide groaned.

Ratchet patted his arm. "Aw, it's okay, softie. It will work out. And, hey, now she knows how not to use a stun-gun."

Ironhide chuckled wryly. "And Prowl knows she'll watch his back."

Ratchet grinned, laughing. "And sit on it if need be!"

"Ah, poor Prowl."

"He's illogically resilient, though; he'll be fine in the morning, if not a little sore."

Ironhide smiled. "Hey, I'll be sore, too. Getting hit in the face at short range with a stun-gun isn't exactly kind to the body."

"It's your own fault. Get outta here." The medic ordered, smiling. "Go get some rest."

"Yes, sir." Ironhide saluted mockingly and went out, heading back to his quarters.

He was a little disappointed to find that Auri was already in recharge. He had wanted to spend some time with her. He sighed and petted her back, contenting himself with the thought that they could spend time later. Then he went on to see Chromia and get some recharge of his own.

OoOOooOooOOoO

Auri came out of recharge. She shifted around, sat up, and looked a little perplexed. She thought she had been done with waking up in the night. Then she realized that she had gone to bed ridiculously early, and she hadn't refueled before going to bed, either.

Her system needed Energon.

Activating the lighting system, keeping it dim, she went quietly over to the table. Pulling out a stool, she pushed it over to cabinet and climbed up.

It made her feel like a tiny sparkling, having to climb a stool to get her Energon, but she reminded herself that she was a little small and that these quarters had been designed for the ease of very big Autobots. Sunny and Sides' quarters were more suited to her small size. She could reach more of their storage places. Not that she wanted to.

She got an Energon cube and sat down to refuel. Mm… it was good to refuel.

'Poor Prowl,' she thought, 'What trouble I caused him today! … I'm glad we have tomorrow. I'll see if I can persuade Ironhide to let me go in early.'

'Why is the air strange?' she suddenly wondered. It felt different. It was a little unsettling.

She finished off her Energon and returned the stool to its place.

Looking around, she couldn't see anything different. She couldn't hear anything different except for the wind, which had picked up a little bit.

The air felt different. Perplexing…!

And very unsettling.

She went into her guardians' room and climbed onto the foot of their bed.

'I'm glad at least Ironhide keeps his armoring on.' She thought, shaking her head at Chromia's bare silver arms, legs, and midriff.

She pinched Chromia's foot. This was how she woke her guardians up. The older femme kicked a little, but Auri had known that was coming and had stayed out of range. She pinched again and tickled.

"Mmpf." Chromia shifted and sat up, bringing her optics dimly online. "Ah, hi, little one. Mmm… whatchya need?" she murmured.

"The air seems strange." Auri said.

Chromia paused, focusing of the air. "The pressure is changing because a thunderstorm is coming." She murmured after a moment.

"Really?" Auri asked, her fears vanishing as eagerness swept in.

Chromia nodded. "Yup, a real thunderstorm." She chuckled, remembered how fascinated by the weather pattern Auri had been when she was studying the various natural phenomena of earth's atmosphere. "Okay?"

"Okay." Auri said, nodding happily.

"Pleasant night, little one." Chromia dropped down against Ironhide.

"Chromia?" Auri said a moment later, not having left.

"Y…?" He femme guardian was mostly out.

"I would like to see the storm."

Chromia dragged herself up and rested her head on Ironhide's side. "I can't stay out of recharge, sweet-spark. I'd love to take you to see the storm, otherwise…" she sighed.

"It's okay." Auri said, rubbing the tired femme's ankle. "Maybe could you wake Ironhide up and see if he will take me?"

Chromia chuckled wryly. "I can wake him up, but no guarantees on getting him to go."

"Okay," Auri said eagerly.

Chromia dragged herself up and slugged Ironhide in the side. He barely moved.

Chromia gave Auri a comical long-suffering look. Auri grinned.

"Hey, Tank!" Chromia kicked him. Hard.

"Gotchya, femme!" He grabbed her quickly and pulled her close. "Kicking me, my silver one?"

"Uh," Chromia pushed him back. "Auri," she pointed, "Wants to see the thunderstorm."

"Ah, little one," Ironhide said, looking at Auri, "It always rains when there is a thunderstorm."

"Cool! I haven't seen rain before either." Auri bounced with anticipation.

Ironhide rubbed his head. "It isn't so much see as feel…"

Auri wondered what he meant and cocked her head with a perplexed expression. Ironhide gave up.

"Alright, I'll take you." he said. He turned to the femme in his arms, but she was completely in recharge. "Oh. Well, I can see that you won't be missing me much." He said, sounding a little disgruntled. Auri giggled. Ironhide put his spark-mate down gently and got up.

"Rain is very wet." Ironhide said as opened the door for Auri.

They went out.

"I know it's wet." She said, peering out into the darkness. "It's water."

"It's cold water." Ironhide murmured, looking down at her. He really had wanted to spend some quality time with his little one, but he wasn't so thrilled about spending it in the rain.

She instinctively looked up at him. A happy grin spread across her face, for she was going to get to see a thunderstorm and rain, too!

He smiled at her. He wasn't going to tell her that he really hated water, that he didn't like thunderstorms, or that he really, really hated rain. Rain was cold drops of water falling down on him out of the sky. It had been who knows where, vaporized, floated around above everything, and then at some random chance fell. It bothered him.

He transformed. Auri followed suit.

"Where are we going?" Auri asked as they started driving.

"We're going to the beach. We'll have a very clear view of the sky from there." Had they been anywhere else, they would have taken cover, but here they were safe. NEST Base had a deflector that would protect everything on base from the wild electricity.

"Oh…"

"Is that okay?" he sensed some reluctance on her part.

"I'm a little scared of the beach."

"Why?" he asked gently.

"Because the ocean really scares me."

"The ocean does?"

"Yeah…. It just does."

"The ocean by the beach is pretty safe, my little one." Ironhide said. "It's a lot of water, and it can be pretty powerful. When there's a bad storm, it might be dangerous, but on the average day, it's fine."

'You would never catch me dipping in it though.' He added silently. They drove on quietly for a while, then they came to the beach.

"Ready to get come sand in your gears?" he asked, stopping at the edge of the pavement.

"You bet…" she said, transforming.

He held back a groan and transformed.

They walked in the sand up the dunes to the crest of the hilly part of the landscape.

Auri squeaked and hopped now and then as the sand got in her foot workings. Ironhide chuckled at her despite his dread of the approaching rain.

Down the hill they went, just a little ways, and then they sat down, facing the mighty ocean. It was roaring and splashing in the dark. The Transformers could see it dimly, but a human wouldn't have been able to.

Part of the sky lit up as lightning flashed in the distance. The lightning brightened the clouds, showing their unique forms in white silhouettes.

"oh…!" Auri said softly with amazement. Moments later the soft rumble of thunder came rolling over the waves.

She grinned up at Ironhide, and her grin vanished. "Ironhide? Are you alright?"

"I'm fine." He said, not very convincingly. "That is… I… I just don't like getting rained on. It's wet. And it's cold. And… and… and who knows where it came from?"

Auri smiled up at him and tucked her arm around his. "Thank-you for coming out with me." She said, patting his arm.

Rain wouldn't hurt him, he knew. He reached over and rubbed Auri's shoulder before putting his arm around her.

They watched the storm come in all its splendor and glory, watching to see how the clouds had changed in the dark each time the lightning showed their shapes again. Auri shivered with delight at the majestic rumbles of the thunder. Ironhide slowly began to appreciate the beauty in the storm.

The wind picked up, sending sand skipping across the dunes and making the waves toss more. Auri liked the wind.

Ironhide's sensitive audio processors soon picked up the sound of the rain approaching.

"The rain will reach us soon," He started to say quietly.

"Do you want us to go back?" Auri asked, concerned for her guardian's happiness.

"We'd get wet anyway even if we did leave now. I was just going to say that if you listened carefully, you would be able to hear it come."He told her. He readied his sensors for the onslaught of cold, wet droplets.

Auri kissed his hand. "You're the best and sweetest guardian in the whole wide universe." She told him.

That made him happy. He would put up with several rainstorms to hear that again.

"Oh!" Auri exclaimed. She hopped up and ran a few yards away to hold out her hands to the sky.

Ironhide, watching her, forgot to wince as the first light drops came carried in as a spray on the wind.

Auri squealed with delight when the first real raindrops splashed down on her. They played on her face and fell on her head. She laughed as they teased her tactile sensors. The rain made a lovely noise, too.

The wind, rain, and the waves made some wild sort of music, the thunder crashed through, too. Auri pranced happily. It was fun to be out in a rain storm.

The lightning flashed very near now, and the thunder came sooner and louder.

"Ooooo! Ironhide!" Auri called, grinning.

He rose and came over.

"I like it!" she shouted to be heard over a vast peal of thunder.

He smiled fondly at her, not saying anything.

She danced, waving her arms gracefully in the wind and rain.

"I feel the rain, coming down on me!" She sang, still dancing. "It's just so sweet, it makes me happy!"

Ironhide chuckled.

"Oh! Rain, rain, rain; la la la la la! Oh! Wind, wind, wind; la la la la la!" she danced some more.

"Oh, my Auri!" Ironhide laughed.

She giggled and came to hug him.

"I like this storm!" she said as Ironhide picked her up. "And I LOVE you for bringing me here!"

"I brought you here _because_ I love you." Ironhide responded, holding her close.

The rain poured down on the two Transformers, trickling down their faces and bodies. Auri grinned at Ironhide, and he grinned back. Then she tilted her head back to watch the sky.

"The thunder has moved on." she said after some time. "I'm willing to go when you're ready to."

Ironhide started back up the hill. "I want to keep you for always." He said.

"What about when I get a spark-mate?" Auri asked curiously.

Ironhide stopped in his tracks, shocked at the prospect.

Auri tickled him. "I'm not gonna get one for a rrrrreally long time, MyGuard." She said. "You can keep me."

"Well, I'm going to." He said firmly.

She cuddled, growing sleepy again, as he carried her home.

Once inside their quarters, Ironhide set her down and went in search of some towels.

"Arg. Where could they be?" he muttered after pawing through two drawers in vain.

"Here's a small one." Auri said, pulling it off the couch and starting to dry herself.

"Chromia must have gotten them out for us already, then." He hugged her, towel and all. "Good night, my little one."

"Good night! Thank-you!"

"You're welcome." He said, heading for his room. Rain wasn't so bad when someone was smiling at him through it.


	24. Chapter 24, Sunshine

OOoo! Five reviews on the last chapter! Happy me! XD Thank-you! *hugs* I'm going to update early! ;)

Oh, good news, I wrote two more chapters yesterday and today that I hadn't thought of earlier, so the story is going to be even longer than I'd said it would be previously. They were fun, too! But they come a bit later. (I'm a little under the weather, and I'm a week away from starting summer classes, I don't usually write fic this much!)

This chapter's a little short, but the last one was really long to make up for it. ;) Enjoy! :)

* * *

Chapter 24

**Sunshine**

Morning dawned very fresh and clear. Auri came out of recharge early and grinned, happy about getting to experience the storm last night. Vaulting off the couch, she landed with a soft thud in a super-hero pose. She was ready to take on the day!

Scampering into her guardians' room, she intended to ask if she could go to the office early after she refueled.

Neither guardian was of recharge as of yet, though. She climbed up onto the bed and frowned. Those two were so snuggly that she would have to climb on Ironhide's leg to wake Chromia up in the regular fashion. That could be dangerous. She walked on the bed beside Chromia and mused. She didn't consider it safe trying to wake Chromia up any other way besides pinching her foot.

She could leave a note.

Or, she could try waking up Ironhide.

Hm.

She gazed at the near five ton mech thoughtfully.

She would leave a note.

They probably wouldn't miss her for a while anyway.

She downed her usual amount of morning Energon, typed her note, and headed out.

The roads were still wet. The sun's warming rays had not come over the horizon yet, either. It was light, but not bright.

Auri transformed in front of the office and opened the door, slipping in quietly.

Prowl looked up at her, mildly surprised.

"Good morning," she said, smiling.

"Good morning." He replied, his voice growly from the earliness of the day; his vocal processors were still a little cold. "Does Ironhide know that you are coming in this early?" he asked.

"I left a note." Auri said, "He and Chromia were both still in recharge; I couldn't get to her to wake her up, and there's no way I would try to wake him up unless it was a dire emergency."

"Very well. I will see where you can start," He said, setting aside his Energon and sifting slowly through several data-pads.

"How are you feeling today?" Auri asked. Normally she would never be so presumptuous as to ask Prowl a personal question, but she felt a little badly for all the trouble she had caused him yesterday.

Prowl paused to look up at her. "I am feeling a bit sore, but otherwise I feel fine." He said, a little surprise sounding in his tone.

Auri smiled softly, "I'm glad you feel otherwise fine." She said.

"Let us hope the feeling stays when Ironhide comes to harangue us for you being here early." Prowl said wryly, turning back to his work.

"It will probably be a little while before he shows." Auri said, "He was awake for a couple hours last night, taking me to see the thunderstorm."

Prowl ducked his head very low to hide a smile. He knew that Ironhide particularly hated getting rained on. "Ah."

"It was very enjoyable." Auri said, smiling happily.

Prowl found the document that he was looking for. "Here," he said, handing it to her. "Check that and add it to the system."

"Yes, sir." She took it and sat down by the computer to read. The office was quiet again except for the sound of Prowl typing.

"The updates are ready for the site, whenever you are finished with that." He said presently.

"Okay."

Prowl looked up. "Okay?" he echoed. That was not a suitable word in his office.

"Understood?" she guessed.

"Acknowledged." Prowl told her.

"Oh!" She hadn't heard that one before. "Acknowledged." She said, smiling.

He nodded his approval and resumed typing. He became wrapped up in his early morning work and forgot about the rest of the world.

"Prowl?" Auri asked.

Prowl's door-wings twitched, and he looked up quickly with surprise.

"Are you okay?" she asked him, raising an optic-ridge.

"Yes." He flitted his wings downwards. "I forgot that you were here, and you startled me." He explained.

Auri chuckled then stopped short, recalling that he didn't like to be laughed at. "I was going to ask you, how long will it take for the twins to fix the files the virus messed up yesterday?"

Prowl picked up a data-pad and typing some figures in. "It will depend on how fast they can fix them." He said, "If they can do one file in two minutes, it will take them a full month at four hours a day."

"Wow."

Prowl nodded. "However, if it takes them five minutes to fix a file, it will take them two and a half months at four hours a day."

Auri widened her optics in awe.

"I fear the latter will be the case." Prowl said.

"If they did a file a minute, it would only take a day over two weeks." Auri said, having figured out the calculation.

"The probability of that is exceptionally small." Prowl said.

"Hmmm…"

"Do your work." Prowl ordered. It would be illogical to continue on this track.

"Yes, Commander." Auri said, moving back to her work. She smiled as she stepped up onto the box in front of the main computer. It had shown up sometimes during the week, and it made working at the computer much easier, for she didn't have to reach so far or stretch.

Sometime later, Ironhide came in. Prowl looked up at him with a slightly guarded looked. Auri turned and smiled winningly at him.

"Good morning." Ironhide said, sounding amiable.

"Good morning." Prowl replied, "For what are you here?"

"I just came to make sure Auri had taken a full breakfast before running off." Ironhide said, smiling.

"I would not know." Prowl said, looking a little uncomfortable.

Ironhide chuckled at him. "Take it easy, Prowl." He said, going over to the cautious Bot. "I'm sorry about yesterday, and it's not happening again. Understood?" he asked.

Prowl nodded. "Understood." He replied.

"Good." Ironhide said. He reached out and rubbed Prowl's shoulder. Prowl lowered his head a little and let him. "Don't hold a grudge, Prow-bot." he said gently. "And don't give me any of that logic nonsense." He chided when Prowl opened his mouth to speak.

Prowl stayed quiet.

"How are you feeling today?" Ironhide asked after a moment.

"Sore." Prowl said, "But otherwise fine."

"Well, I hope this day goes better for you." Ironhide told him, giving his shoulder a final pat.

"As do I." Prowl said, widening his optics.

"It should." Ironhide moved away. "Auri,"

"I took a full breakfast." Auri said meekly, half focused on him; she was still attending the computer.

"Okay," He said.

"Acknowledged." Auri corrected absently, typing in a code. Then her fingers froze, her jaw dropped, and she spun to face Ironhide. She tripped as she spun; one foot caught the other, and she fell off her box. "I-I-I t-totally did not mean to say th-that!" She spluttered, her optics wide with astonishment as she sat there.

Ironhide chuckled and stepped over to pick her up. "Prowl has created a monster." He said, amused, setting her on her box again.

"So says the guardian whose femme-ling took an officer's stun-gun and shot two mechs who were both four times her size." Prowl replied, smirking ever so slightly.

"Touché." Said Ironhide, though his French was quite bad. "Anyway, are you going to teach her how to properly use that thing, or shall I?"

"You may." Prowl said. "Later, though." He added pointedly, "We have much work to do."

"Translation: get out." Ironhide said blithely, "See you later, Prowl. See you later my little one."

"Good day." Prowl said, but Auri went to hug Ironhide and whisper something sweet to him.

Once Ironhide was gone, Prowl had about an hour and a half of peace.

Then the twins crashed in, chortling and laughing, nearly tripping over each other.

"Four hours…" Prowl muttered almost silently. "For how many weeks…?" Nobody heard him over the sound of the twins.

"Dude, it was epic!" Sides was saying, his optics sparkling with amusement. "That tow-truck driver-!"

"Quiet." Prowl cut him off. "You are here to work. You may recount your stories anywhere and anytime after you leave this office. No sooner."

"Yahvol, Herr Kommandant!" Sides mocked while Sunny thrust out his arm in a salute. Sides' German was slightly better than Ironhide's French.

Prowl narrowed his optics, calculating the various things he could legally do to the twins.

"Oh, you twins be nice." Auri said, flitting her wings in exasperation."Prowl likes peace and quiet, and you like staying out of the brig and playing video-games."

"She has a point." Prowl said, "And I have the power."

"Hoo-Wah! Live in fear." Sunny said. "Okay, Prowl."

"Make that 'acknowledged, Prowl.'" Prowl ordered.

"Seriously?" Sides gazed at him incredulously.

"Do I ever joke with you two?" Prowl asked coldly.

"Uh, lemme check… err…"

"You two are acting like a couple of short-circuited toaster-ovens." Auri said to the twins, a look of annoyed disgust plain on her face.

The twins pursed their lips. 'Short-circuited toaster-ovens'?

"Did you know that if you get one file done in two minutes, it will _only_ take you a whole month of four hours a day?" Prowl asked ominously.

The twins yelped. "_THAT LONG?_"

"It is comparatively short compared to the two and a half months it would take you if you take five minutes a file." Auri said with a blithe air.

The twins spluttered about how long two and a half months was.

"And I can always brig you and let you work from there." Prowl warned.

The twins collected themselves and scowled at Prowl.

"Ready when you are, _commander_." Sunny growled.

"Good." Prowl said, pleased. "You two may work at the secondary computer over there. Aurion will turn it on for you."

Auri slipped over and started the computer, using the various passwords and codes to get into the system while Prowl issued a few instructions to the twins.

Auri smiled at the twins when they came over to start on the files, but they didn't smiled back; they were not happy. The light sentence of merely recovering the files had suddenly become terribly hard. She shrugged one shoulder helplessly and went back to her own computer.

'Poor twins,' she thought. 'Poor Prowl!'

The office was quiet, but not in a good way as before. Prowl seemed oblivious to it, all wrapped up in his work, the twins seemed to be ignoring it, but Auri could feel it most unpleasantly. It made her sad, and it made focusing on her work rather difficult. She could almost felt the twins' resentful pain touching her spark.

She slipped over to Prowl's desk and went behind it, standing beside his chair. "Prowl," she whispered very softly, leaning in very closely to him.

He met her optics.

"The twins are not happy." She whispered.

"They are not supposed to be." he whispered back.

"I mean, they are really, really not happy, and it is making me very unhappy. It is hard to work like this. I need them to be happy. That is something you can give to our relationship."

"It is not in my grasp to make those –twins- happy." Prowl whispered.

"I know you can do it." Auri whispered.

Prowl looked frustrated. Since when had he inspired such trust in this little femme?

"You made them happy yesterday." She whispered earnestly.

So he had. He shifted his door-wings. He, then, could do it again. "Alright." He whispered. He rose, and she patted his arm as he went past her. He almost stopped and called her down for that, but then he realized that she'd seen Ironhide pat him in encouragement. She wasn't pressing boundaries or trying to get to him; she was only trying to encourage him.

Auri rested her elbows on his deck and watched as he approached the twins, curious to see what he would do.

"Sunstreaker, Sideswipe." He said.

"What?" they were rather sullen by now.

"We have not always agreed, we have not usually agreed, but we need to have peace between ourselves in here." Prowl said. The twins regarded him suspiciously. "You are both excellent technicians, you are trustworthy Autobot warriors, skilled in battle, and you have (mostly) been very good friends to Aurion; for that you have my respect. I would not choose to be at odds with you mechs. I only ask that you treat me with respect; please just stop with the mockery and the insolence. I am not ordering you to be completely silent, or demanding that you conform completely to my standards. I simply request some courtesy. Is that overmuch to ask for?"

The twins looked at each other, thinking it over.

"No; it's not too much to ask." Sunny admitted reluctantly, and Sides nodded in begrudging agreement.

"Thank-you," Prowl said. "I understand that you two are very talkative bots; I will try to respect your need for verbal communication better as long as you keep it down; I will tolerate some chatter. Alright?"

Sunny and Sides cocked their heads. "Alright." Sides said reasonably. Sunny nodded.

"Good." Prowl said. "I will leave you to your work now."

Prowl went back to his desk, and Auri smiled at him, nodding her approval.

"Get your elbows of my desk!" he whispered at her. She whisked them off and crossed her arms quickly before hastily uncrossing them and clasping her wrist behind her back.

"Need anything else?" Prowl asked, sitting down, ducking his head to hide a half-smile.

Auri looked over at the twins. They were murmuring and chattering softly over the files as they worked out the problems together. She could almost feel that they were happy. They sounded content. She shook her head. "No, commander. All is good now." She said, smiling.


	25. Chapter 25, Country Roads

So, this next bit I thought of while driving to and from my community college last semester. I live in the country… I drive through the country to get to my school… I went up to the college this afternoon and paid for my summer class, and coming home I got behind a tractor on the highway. (Yes, dear city-dwellers, the folks out here drive their tractors on the highway). It's interesting driving through the country. Sometimes there are cars on blocks, and there are many, many tractors, and a couple of trucks that have odd-colored replacement parts. Oh, yes… and roadkill. My car smelled slightly like a skunk one time.

_All my memories gather round her,  
Miner's lady, stranger to blue water;  
Dark and dusty painted on the sky,  
Misty taste of moonshine, teardrops in my eyes..._

Country roads, take me home  
To the place I belong...

~Not my song, it's John Denver's. And I'm not from West Virginia.

* * *

Chapter 25

**Country Roads**

Auri pulled into a parking lot and halted, parking neatly. Initially, she had been quite excited about leaving NEST Base and driving around a real city.

Now, with all kinds of grime on her underside, and other kinds of grime on her front and other sides, she was more than ready to back home.

She sighed.

::What goes on, my little spark?:: Ironhide asked her over the inter-com. He was just a couple blocks over from where she was.

::I don't really like the dirty.:: She replied.

::I understand. You can have a good, thorough wash as soon as you get back to NEST, though.:: her guardian encouraged.

::Yes…::

::If you flick some of the tactile sensors off, it won't be so bad. That's what I do.::

Auri carefully switched off several selected sets. ::Thanks! :) That's better.:: she sent happily. She went on with her observing, feeling more comfortable.

Another hour passed. She had been thinking about Decepticons more or less during the entire time she'd been off NEST Base. She'd thought the most about Soundwave, recalling how he'd offered to trade the Decepticon Second-in-Command for her. That was really, really scary. She thought about getting kidnapped.

It was a terrifying thought, this thought of getting swept away from her family and friends; she didn't like it.

She felt a little panicked.

Then she felt very calm and safe, for she knew that her guardian was watching her and he would never let anything happen to her.

Auri snickered at herself. Ironhide couldn't be literally be watching her, of course; he was on the ground a couple blocks over. She knew she meant that he was watching_ out_ for her.

Ironhide always watched out for her.

No Cons ever showed up, anyway.

After a while, she went to meet Ironhide and the twins in an abandoned warehouse. She pulled in carefully, still alert for Con, well on guard for any surprise attacks. Ironhide was there, talking quietly with the twins; they were very serious in return. Sunny and Sides saw Auri and grinned at her. Ironhide looked over, and then he smiled. He left the twins.

Auri transformed and scampered over to meet her beloved guardian. He scooped her up. "How was your first off-base patrol?" he asked.

"Grimy." She said without hesitation, but she smiled at him. "Other than that, I liked it! It was fascinating to see all the people and how they interacted and reacted, and how they responded to each other when piloting cars!"

"They are rather interesting, aren't they?"

Auri nodded enthusiastically. Then she lowered her head with a little frown. "I want you to come back with me." She said sadly.

"Aw…" Ironhide winced at the pain that pulled at his spark. "I know you do. And I want to go back with you, you know that. But we have other places that we need to monitor and look over. Chromia and I will be back at Base day after tomorrow, y'know."

Yes, she knew that. They had told her days ago, and she'd said that she would be alright. She still didn't like it, though. She had said good-bye to Chromia earlier that day. Now she missed her femme guardian.

"Okay?" Ironhide asked.

"Okay." She said, half-smiling.

"I love you, more than the sky can encompass, more than the suns can shine." He murmured to her, cuddling her.

She sighed contentedly and snuggled against him. "Forever, more than the width of galaxies." She said softly.

"Uh-huh." Ironhide didn't want to leave her.

"I love you, too." She whispered.

He set her down reluctantly. "Alright, drive safely now, and be careful."

"I will." She said, winking at him. "I'll make sure the twins do, too."

Ironhide chuckled. Then Auri transformed back into car-mode, as did the twins, and the three younglings drove off to meet the transport.

"That was a grimy place." Auri said as soon as they were out on a lonely road, winding through a rather rural area.

"Yep! Nobody keeps a cleaner town than we do on NEST Base." Sides said. "That one wasn't too bad compared to many cities, though."

"I felt like I was being stared at the whole time." Sunny said.

Auri snorted. "A shiny yellow sports car rolling through a rather plain town…? Um, Sunny, DUH! Of course you felt like you were being stared at!"

Sunny chuckled. "Duh! But, I do like the attention!"

"So, how do you like cruising through the boondocks?" Sides asked Auri, dodging a pothole.

Auri swerved hard to miss the pothole. "Oof. Next time give warning, will you?"

"Sure thing, Aurilaze." Sides replied apologetically.

"Thanks." Auri said, "Uh… boondocks… 'Rough, remote, or isolated country'…" she found the definition online. "I like all the fields, and the trees. And I like how the houses are far, far apart."

"Yeah, that's the way they do it out in the boonies."

"Hey! Five points for a car on blocks." Sunny called out, starting a road game.

"Well, six for a tractor sitting in the field." Sides retorted as he rounded a curve.

"No way! Tractors are more common than cars on blocks!"

"Fine. Four points a tractor."

Auri spotted another tractor. "What if it's a small tractor?" Auri asked. It didn't seem right to take so many points for such a small thing.

"Oh, three points." Sunny said.

"Six points, two small tractors!" Sides sang.

"No fair, Sides; you're in front and see everything first. You can only call one." Sunny objected.

"Five points, C.O.B." Auri called.

"That was mine!" Sides protested.

"Gotta call it before you can claim it." Sunny said smugly. Then a moment later he called. "Six points, truck with unpainted replacement parts!"

"Ooooh! Now that's ugly!" Side said in disgust. "Get new parts and not paint them? Ick!"

"Seven points, tractor with accessories." Sunny called.

"Fourteen points," Auri chirped, "Two T.W.A.'s for me!"

Auri was allowed to call more than one at a time, the twins decided over the intercom.

On down the road the three went, racking up points merrily as they went.

Then Sideswipe, who was in the front slowed down hard, almost coming to a halt, before going along at a crawl.

"Why so slow, brother?" Sunny, in the far back asked. He wasn't fond of creeping along at ten miles per hour.

::Seven points, TWA, on the road right in front of me.:: Sides replied over the inter-com.

::Can't we pass it?:: Sunny asked.

::No, we cannot:: Prowl's Aurion wasn't about to let them break any road rules.

::Not yet, anyway.:: Sides replied.

The three high-dollar cars poked along behind the tractor for a quarter of a mile. They got several stares as they went past a farmhouse.

Sunny's holograph driver smiled and raised a hand in greeting at the surprised old couple who were sitting on the porch.

::Eat it up, brother.:: Sides remarked dryly over the com.

::Hey, what? I was just being nice.::

Side dropped it and closed the comm. line.

They poked on some more.

::Passing zone! Hold onto your hat, mister:: Sides flashed his signal and shot over into the left lane before tearing ahead and swerving back into the right lane. Auri followed more politely, and Sunny came right behind her.

"Eight points!" Sides was jubilant. "Two tractors!"

Going fast again made him very happy.

"You only get four!" Sunny corrected. "Hey! C.O.B., another seven for me!"

"Three, small tractor."

"Ro'kill!" Sides yelped, swerving.

"What?" Auri asked, "YUHHHK! EEW! EEW! _EEEEEEEK_!" she squealed.

"Sh! Keep it down!" Sunny cautioned.

"That was gross!" Auri squeaked, weak with disgust.

"I gave warning." Sides protested.

"I didn't know that word." Auri fussed.

"Road-kill: killed stuff that's lying in the road." Sides explained.

"Eeeeewwww…." Auri moaned.

::Are you gonna tell her that it was a skunk?:: Sunny asked Sides privately over the intercom.

::ME? Why me? It wasn't my fault! You tell her; she likes you better!:: Sides sent back.

::What?::

::Well, she does!::

::You tell her about skunks!::

::No! Sunny! It's not decent!::

::Tell her!::

::NO!::

"Dude, twins. Wake up!" Auri ordered, giggling. "I just added thirty points, and you never even said a peep"

"We were intercomming. Arg! Look what you made us lose, Sunny!"

::Tell her!::

::No!::

::Sideswipe!::

::NO! NO! NO! NO!::

::Sideswipe, you had better tell her.::

::I TOLD YOU! IT IS NOT DECENT!::

"It's no fun when you don't play." Auri said, sounding a little put out.

"Four points, tractor!" Sunny called. He didn't want her getting upset on the road with Ironhide so far away.

"That was mine!" Sides protested.

"You take the three-point little tractor."

Auri had the most points by the time they reached the transport. The twins grumbled good naturedly about it, and she was happy as they boarded the transport plane. The plane took off, and Auri dropped into recharge shortly thereafter.

For the first twenty minutes of the trip, the twins argued over the intercom, each insisting that the other would have to tell Auri about skunks and what happened to anything that came in contact with skunks. The argument ended in a stalemate, and they dropped into recharge themselves.

Two of the human personal on the plane seemed to get rather air-sick while the other four gagged and stuffed their shirts against their faces.

OoOOooOooOOoO

Auri felt somebody prodding her gently. It was night time. Somebody had rolled her car-form onto the pavement. She wasn't in the transport plane anymore…

"Auri, wake up. We're back home." Sunny said.

Well, that was nice to know…

"Hey, come on." Sides coaxed.

Yeah…

"Aurrrrri," somebody rocked her back and forth on her wheels.

She didn't really like that…

"She's not responding… too tired."

"Hey, Auri, can you transform? We'll carry you if you'll transform."

She dragged her last strands of wakefulness together and managed to transform. Sunny caught the femme-ling as she crumpled back into recharge.

"You know." Sides said. "She's not gonna wake up enough to open the door to her quarters, and we've never been able to hack that door."

Sunny sighed. "I'm too tired to think."

"Eh… let's just go sleep in that open hanger."

"Okay." Sunny hoisted the femme-ling to his shoulder and followed his brother. They trudged into the hangar.

Sunny set the little femme down, making sure she was in a comfortable position, and then he and Sides went and curled up several yards away, using each using the other for a pillow.

OoOOooOooOOoO

Auri came out of recharge slowly, her systems slightly disoriented by the travel and her location. She opened her optics, blinking a little. She had slept in an odd position, and now she knew why. She was in an airplane hangar. It was an open hangar, and the nocturnal darkness was fading away into the soft grey of early morning.

She sat up and looked around, not feeling alone. There were the twins a couple yards away, sleeping like a pair of kittens, cuddled up against each other and sprawled out at the same time.

She smiled at them. Her cute twins.

Then she sighed. Were humans going to make something out of her sleeping in the same building with the twins? She hoped not. They were brothers to her, not objects of lust.

She got up. She had things to do that day.

First thing she had to do was take a good, hot, soapy shower to get all the city grime off. She transformed and drove off to the bathhouse, scanning the website and catching up on the news as she drove.

She slipped into the bathhouse and was disappointed to find it empty. There was nobody to splash with, nobody to chat to.

Taking off all her exterior armor, she put it to soak in a small tub, and then she stripped off her interior armor and set it to soak as well before going over to the shower facet.

She enjoyed the warm, clean water flowing over her bare, silver protoform and reveled in the foaming scrub. Mm, mm, it was good to get clean. The whole room steamed up as Auri covered herself with the bubbly soap. She scrubbed more, and then she rinsed. Once her sensors finally confirmed her free of grime, she sat under the rain of the shower and cleaned her armor piece by piece, putting each piece back on once she was done cleaning it.

Once she was satisfied, and fully armored, she turned the water off and went to get a towel.

She wished Chromia was there to talk with her and towel her wings gently.

But Chromia wasn't there. She was out patrolling with Ironhide and some other bots.

Auri was left under Ratchet's care.

She sulked. She really, really liked Ratchet. The twins seemed to think he was some kind of monster, but he was always so kind and sweet to her. He was like an uncle. She liked him lots. But she wanted Ironhide.

She needed to refuel. She could have gone to Ironhide and Chromia's quarters, or the Pub, to refuel, but she wanted Ratchet to get Energon for her and ask her about yesterday's adventures. She was not at all happy that Ironhide wasn't there, but Ratchet would look after her. She tossed the towel in a bin and headed out to go see the dear medic.


	26. Chapter 26, Little Stinker

(btw, skunk odor doesn't come off with just regular soap) ;) Oh, yeah…

* * *

Chapter 26

**Little Stinker**

"Hi, First Aid," Auri greeted the red and white mech in the Med-Bay reception area; he was an awfully sweet medic if there ever was one. Jolt was a good medic, too, but First Aid was nicer.

"Hello, Auri." First Aid replied cheerfully then a look of hesitancy came to his face.

"Is everything alright?" Auri asked.

"Um… nothing's wrong, really." He wasn't very convincing.

"May I go in and see Ratchet?" Auri asked.

"Y-yes. Uh, go on."

"Thank-you." She said, smiling. She went on to the main section where Ratchet worked, wondering what had happened to make First Aid act oddly.

"Hi, Ratchet!" she approached the great medic eagerly. His back was to her as he worked over something on his counter.

"You need to go wash," he said, frowning at his tools.

"I've just come from the wash." She replied primly, feeling slightly insulted.

"I meant," he said, turning to look at her, "'You need to go wash in tomato sauce.'" He didn't mean to be so blunt, but he was without thinking about it.

A look of disgusted horror crossed Auri's face. "That's nasty! I won't!"

"You will, too. You've run over a skunk, femme-ling; now you smell like a skunk. Tomato sauce is what works to take the smell off. That's all there is to it."

She flitted her wings and looked indignant.

Ratchet paused and reminded himself what he was dealing with. Not only was this a femme-ling that had been neglected, but this was a femme-ling that had been neglected whose guardians were now out of range. She would be very easy to upset. He needed to change his tactics.

He came over to her and crouched down to her height. "Can you smell the musk odor?" he asked gently.

She worked on her sensors for a second. "Yes."

"It's highly repulsive to humans, and we Bots don't care for it much, either." He explained patiently.

She sniffed. "Tomato sauce seeping under my armoring is more repulsive. I won't do it. I'm low on Energon anyway and need to refuel." She wasn't very happy at the moment. Tears might fall at any given second.

"Alright, I'll get you some Energon." Ratchet said, rubbing her shoulder consolingly. He picked her up and set her on a berth, turning on the Discovery Channel to distract her. Then he went got a cube of Energon and gave it to her. She murmured a thank-you and seemed content for the moment.

Ratchet slipped over to his computer and sent a message to the alimentary department, putting in a request for a rather large amount of tomato sauce. A message came back, commenting that certain people weren't going to be too happy about missing out on lasagna _again_. The message also said that hydrogen peroxide and baking soda mixed together worked just as well, and that vinegar was also a good option.

Ratchet cocked his head. Peroxide wouldn't be quite as repulsive to the Transformers as tomato sauce was... But nowhere did they have enough to wash even a small femme.

Vinegar?

Ratchet's optics narrowed. They could use vinegar; that would work. He sent back a reply, requesting vinegar instead of tomato sauce. Maybe she wouldn't mind vinegar as much.

Blithely unaware of the conspiracy, Auri sipped her Energon and watched on the program. She didn't notice that Ratchet left, but she noticed when he came back and came over to her.

"Now you smell offensive." She said, sniffing at the medic. She didn't know what the smell belonged to, but it certainly smelled terrible.

"I've finished drawing you a bath in the decontamination tub." Ratchet said, wiping his hands with a cleansing cloth,

Auri's look darkened.

"You don't want to smell like a skunk, sweet-spark." Ratchet said. "Now, go on and wash."

She gave him a nasty look.

"It's not tomato sauce, anyway. Alimentary didn't want to send tomato sauce, so we have vinegar instead. It's not as gross." He said coaxingly.

"EEW!" she yelled, a look of revulsion crossing her face.

"Come on, you are going to go wash like a good mature femme." He told her.

"No." she glared at him.

"Am I gonna have to haul you in there and dump you in like you're a little sparkling?" the medic asked.

"NO!" Auri yelled and jumped off the berth, darting away. "I'm not going to get in Vinegar either! That's nasty, too!" She hollered, even though she wasn't at all sure what vinegar was. She couldn't spell it either, so she couldn't look it up.

She paused to stamp her foot and then made for the door as the medic took a step in her direction. She didn't know he could lock the door remotely.

She scowled hostilely at him when she found this out.

"Let's be reasonable about this." Ratchet offered, moving to sit on a berth. "Ironhide would want you to be presentable, and smelling like a skunk is not presentable. Prowl expects his employee to be professional, and smelling like a skunk is certainly not professional."

She still scowled, leaning her back against the door with her arms crossed.

"Isn't it?" he asked her.

After several moments, he spoke again. "Ah, the silent treatment. Well, you're not going anywhere, so it's no problem for me." He got down and went back to work.

Ten minutes passed before Auri came over and kicked him viciously in the ankle. He picked her up and seated her on the counter. "That wasn't very nice." He said gently.

"_You're_ not very nice." She retorted, sulking.

"No, sometimes I'm not." He admitted. "But I do try to look out for my fellows to the best of my ability."

She hung her head.

"I'm just trying to look after you." He said, rubbing her side.

"Yeah… I guess so…"

"Hey, Ironhide has to put up with unpleasant things from time to time, okay? It's not just you; I'm not picking on you."

She nodded reluctantly.

"I… well, I do care about you. Are you going to wash?"

"Yeah…" she said in a resigned little voice.

"Would you feel better if I told you that Ironhide once got a ridiculous amount of bubblegum stuck in his gears, and that he had to wash in warm vinegar, too, to dissolve it and get it out?"

"Um…" she considered it for a moment. Ironhide didn't care for liquids in general at that. And 'Hide could be such a sparkling at times. She half-smiled.

"Yeah." Ratchet said. "Now, you go wash."

"Yes, sir." She leaned over and hugged him.

He hugged her back then set her down.

She sighed and went to do as bidden.

Ratchet sighed, contented and relieved. He was glad that was over, glad that it hadn't been too rough.

A moment later though, that feeling vanished.

"I'VE CHANGED MY MIND! I AM **NOT** GETTING in **THAT!**" Auri shrieked.

Ratchet came up behind her. "You'll just have to." He said, feeling inept.

"NO!" she ran away again.

"Honestly…" the old medic groaned, following her more slowly. "Auri, you are washing in that, like it or not."

She planted her hands on her hips. "You'll have to put me in before I will." She retorted, jutting out her chin. She knew no Autobot mech on the Base would have the audacity to actually grab her and put her in a tub. –Ironhide might in an extreme situation, but only because he was her guardian.

Ratchet sighed. Auri smiled victoriously for a second before Ratchet scooped her up; then she screeched in indignation. Her nearly weaponic screech didn't faze the medic one bit, and he carried her towards the other room.

"Sorry, little one." he apologized, "Old, seasoned medic that I am, I no longer have any qualms about picking up femmes and putting them where they need to be."

Auri squealed and wriggled then let herself be carried once she realized that the old medic wasn't giving in..

"It's really not that bad." Ratchet told her, cuddling her a little.

"It's terrible." She said doggedly, tucking her chin.

"In you go." Ratchet said, leaning over the side of the tub and gently lowered her into the dark, smelly liquid.

"YUHHHHHHCK!" Auri hollered, kicking and thrashing. Ratchet didn't say anything.

He just left, closing the door behind him.

He got a cleansing cloth and wiped the splattered vinegar off his armoring, and then he went back to work.

He sighed. He glanced over his shoulder at the door to the washroom. That had been a bit stressful. At least she was being quiet now. _Hopefully_ she was being quiet and washing.

After a couple minutes, he crept up to the door and listened. He could hear the little femme-ling moving about in the tub, softly splashing as she scrubbed. And she was muttering to herself.

"Ooo… roadkill, that's all they say… no-oh; they don't say how gross it is. …They don't say that it stinks. …Huh-uh, nothing about Ratchet dumping me in nasty, nasty, rotten fruit juice that stinks high to the clouds. I think skunk must smell better than this."

Ratchet smiled in amusement and stepped away from the door, returning to his work.

After well over half an hour, the door opened, and Auri came in, having scrubbed thoroughly then showered extensively in fresh water.

"There, that's much better, Auri." Ratchet said encouragingly, going over to hug her.

Auri tucked her chin. "I'm sorry I was a brat for you." She apologized.

"It's alright." He said, smiling. He'd dealt with worse. He patted her little side.

"I'm going to help Prowl now." She said.

"May your work go well for you." He said, using an old Cybertronian benediction.

"Thank-you; may yours be likewise." She replied, smiling. Then she left.

An hour passed quietly in Med-Bay. Nobody did anything dumb or rash and had to come in. He prepared a few things in case the Bots on mission came back with damages. He never wanted anything to happen to his comrades and friends, but he fervently hoped nothing would ever happen to Ironhide or Chromia. It would be disastrous for Auri to lose her guardians, as well as devastating.

Ratchet was beginning to twine together some replacement cables when his audio receptors picked up a newly familiar screech.

"Uh-oh." He murmured as it sounded again more shrilly and with a more enraged note. "If she practices, she'll have a natural weapon…" He exited Med-Bay quickly as he realized that the screech was coming from Red Alert's security headquarters.

He crossed the street and dashed into the headquarters. Auri was there, indeed, screeching at Red Alert, who had her by the wrists and was trying to push her towards the door as he ranted about something, but she kept turning and kicking him in the leg.

"What's going on here?" Ratchet demanded, but both Bots were hollering unpleasantly at each other and were of no mind to listen to him.

"Auri!" he called, but Auri didn't respond to him, "RED-ALERT! Lay off!"

Red Alert backed off angrily. Auri was hopping mad, though, and still yelling, she pursued him.

"Calm down, lil' pet." Ratchet caught Auri gently by one wing then took her by the arm. She screeched and clawed his wrist and hand once with the talons that sprung from her vambraces before twisting around. Ratchet gaped as the Energon seeped from his arm. Then he jerked away in time to avoid getting his fingers bitten. Auri's sharp little teeth snapped only empty air. She snarled and tried again.

"This is Completely Unacceptable!" Ratchet sat down quickly and turned the out-of-control youngling around, bending her across his knee. He paused then delivered a firm, disciplinary swat to her little behind.

She screeched furiously and tried to claw his leg.

He winced but calmly landed another swat.

"OWWW!" she yelled, still fighting him.

"No, you don't do that." He gave her a third swat. She whimpered.

"Owwahhhhh…" she cried.

Ratchet rubbed her back gently, and she quieted down some more. Then he set her back on her feet.

"You go to Med-Bay now." Ratchet told her quietly, gently.

She brushed her fists against her optics. "Yes, sir." She murmured before moving to obey him.

"Okay, Red Alert." Ratchet said grimly, leaning back in the chair once Auri was gone, "What happened?" He asked. He began wrapping some bandaging around his wrist.

"She rearranged the files on my computer." Red Alert said. "I told her that she couldn't do that, that it was unauthorized, and that I was going to report her to Prowl. She got upset and started talking back, arguing with me, and so I told her that she was done here and had to leave. She refused, so I was going to put her out with force. That's when she started acting like a little Decepticon spawn."

"Are you a complete idiot?" Ratchet demanded, stuffing the excess bandaging under the wrapped part. "Is your processing glitched?"

"Uh..."

"Don't answer that!" Ratchet snapped, "Turn on your processor next time! Okay? She's young! She's practically a sparkling, get it? She's quite new here, and she's insecure! She values her job exceedingly, she just got it, and she meant no harm to your precious files! She won't mess them up even if she wanted to! You throw a hissy-fit because she temporarily rearranged something to better process it and _you threaten her job_? You don't do that! She wants that job dearly! No wonder she got defensive; you were attacking her dream. I oughta beam you upside the head for being so selfish and insensitive!"

Red Alert backed away. "I won't do it again, Ratchet, I won't, I promise, I won't, alright?"

"You'd better not." Ratchet warned ominously, "Ironhide would be even less pleased than I."

Ratchet went back to his Med-Bay, almost dreading to guess what he might find. Upset femmes were prone to drastic retaliation. And younglings were wont to throw things. A young femme…? he shuddered. He paused at the door and peeked in. Everything was still, and Auri was in his chair. Nobody touched that chair, not even First Aid. But Auri didn't know that, and she was curled up weeping softly.

Ratchet went over, "Auri…?"

"Mm-hm?" This came between quiet sobs.

He touched her wingtip with a finger, wishing he knew better what to say. But Auri spoke first; it was stuttered by her crying, but she made the move.

"M-m s-sorry, R-Ratchet-t,"

"Aw… we all have our bad moments, youngling," he said gruffly, crouching down beside his chair. "It's alright."

The small wings dipped and rose a little.

"I only spanked you because you were out of control," Ratchet explained softly, rubbing her back, "I had to set a boundary and tell you that you couldn't pass it, and that was the only way I could get it through to you at the moment."

"M-m… I yunderstand," She nodded, her head still down though. Her tears had stopped and she'd calmed down a bit.

"I'm just looking after you,"

She put her head up to look at him. "I know." She said, as if was the simplest thing in the world, gazing at him with complete trust showing in her optics.

He smiled, touched by her sparkling-like nature that was so quick to forgive. She smiled back for a second, but then she remembered something else and stuffed her fists against her optics, starting to cry again.

"Aw…" Ratchet sighed, rising. He gently picked the little youngling up and sat down, cradling her in his arms. She snuggled against his chest and continued her tears. "It's gonna be alright," he told her.

"H-h-h-he's g-gonna g-get me s-sacked." She sobbed, "I w-wanted th-that j-job…."

"Sh-sh," Ratchet soothed, "No, he's not. He was overreacting. Prowl's not gonna fire you because Red Alert got mad. Red does that a lot; it's not your fault."

"Ah-honest?"

"Honest."

"B-but h-he s-said…"

"It doesn't matter what he said. He doesn't have the power to get you fired." Ratchet said emphatically.

"Ohhhhh-K-kay…"

Ratchet rubbed her back, eventually getting her to stop shuddering.

"It's been a bit rough, huh?" he said sympathetically.

She nodded.

"First I dump you in vinegar, then Red picks a fight with you, and then I have to spank you…" he trailed off, reflecting regretfully that Ironhide would probably get mad when he heard about it.

"You were just looking after me," Auri said in a drowsy, content voice. "It's okay."

He smiled dryly. "Let's hope your legal guardians see it that way."

A sleepy chuckle came from the little femme as she shifted a little. "They will… sooner or later." She murmured.

Ratchet cuddled her, glad that she wasn't upset or hurt by the spanking and touched that she trusted him and responded to him so well.

"I like my special Ratchet-bot." the sleepy femme-ling clicked in baby Cybertronian. Ratchet suddenly understood why Ironhide was a goner for this youngling.

"I like my Auri-pet." He clicked back, pretending that he wasn't overwhelmed. The little femme-ling sighed softly, and a couple moments later she slipped into recharge.

Ratchet watched her recharge for a little while, mesmerized by the peacefulness that always surrounded baby Autobots went the slept.

Then he contacted Prowl via telephone.

"Hello. NEST Base, Commander Prowl's office. Commander Prowl speaking." Prowl droned.

"Hi, Prowl," Ratchet said softly. "A little issue has come up…"

Prowl listened while Ratchet explained about Red Alert and the files and admitted that he had to spank Auri and send her to Med-Bay to talk to her. And that she was now in recharge.

"Thank-you for alerting me to the circumstances." Prowl said when Ratchet was done. "When she awakes, reassure her that I have not fired her, and please convey my apologies to her for not warning her about Red Alert."

"I'll do that." Ratchet said.

"Also, tell that her that I said she can have some 'melt-down time' if she needs if and that she does not need to come back until she feels better."

"Is this Prowl?" Ratchet asked suspiciously.

"Yes, Ratchet, This _is_ Prowl. Ironhide left express instruction for me regarding 'melt-down time.'"

Ratchet smiled. Good ol' Ironhide, he thought. "Well, alright. Thanks, Prowl."

"Always ready to be of service." Prowl responded. "Will that be all?"

"Yep. Bye for now."

"Good-bye." Prowl replied.

Ratchet hung up the phone, satisfied. That had gone much better than he's expected.

He glanced around at the work he had to do. There were piles and piles of things that need attention. And his desk… that needed to be cleaned up; he couldn't find anything on it. Then he looked back down at the peaceful face of the little youngling who needed to be nurtured and cuddled. None of his work was very important at the moment.

* * *

Well, if you want to read about Ironhide's experience that Ratchet mentioned, check out my new story, _A Sticky Situation. _;) It'll just be a short story.


	27. Chapter 27, Little SweetSpark

Duuuuuude! I went to Wal-Mart, and they had cleared out all the old Transformers action figures, and all the new Dark of the Moon toys were in! YEAH! I told my sister to lower her voice when I realized how loud we were talking. Man, Sentinel Prime! XD! Wow! But I really wanted the Ironhide toy they had.

Oh, and a huge, gorgeous, dually, charcoal-colored Chevy Silverado was sitting in the parking lot when I came out. I gazed at it for while before getting into my little teal sedan.

I've added the next chapter to _A Sticky Situation_, wherein Ironhide transforms with several bags of candy in his cab. It's catastrophic, as far as he is concerned.

Okay, enough of that prattle. On to Auri and Ratchet. :)

* * *

Chapter 27

**Little Sweet-Spark**

She was warm and cozy, feeling safe and protected. She cuddled a little more, not quite ready to wake up yet.

It was light all around her, she could tell. Recharging in the day time again, was she? She wondered when she would quit doing that. Napping like a sparkling…

She moved around a little bit. Oh, her system was all ready for her to wake up. Hmm, her rump had an odd feeling in it… She rubbed that part of her anatomy as she turned and opened her optics.

Ratchet smiled down at her wryly.

"Hi, Ratchet," she greeted him as she blinked her optics.

"Hi , sweet-spark." He said. "Did you have a good nap?"

She nodded uncertainly. Then she squirmed and slipped down from the medic's lap; he guided her down, setting her on her feet on the floor.

"Prowl…" she said, frowning, wandering off a few yards then stopping in confusion.

"I talked with Prowl on the phone." Ratchet said, watching her. "He apologizes for not warning you about Red Alert, and he says he's not firing you. And he says you can take some melt-down time if need be, that you didn't have to come back until you felt better."

Auri smiled detachedly. "He's such a nice bot." she said.

"I think you are still half in recharge." Ratchet said.

Auri nodded and wandered back over to him, reaching up to be held again. He lifted her back onto his lap.

"I wake up slowly sometimes." She commented, resting her head against him.

"Yes, you do." Ratchet said. Ironhide had asked him about it, and he'd assure the guardian that it was fine. It wasn't uncommon among sparklings.

She lapsed into silence and looked around. Ratchet observed her optics motions and facial expressions. It was interesting seeing her like this; he usually only saw her when she was alert and attentive, like when she came in for an exam, or came to drop off something from Prowl.

Auri's thoughts wandered here and there as she worked on fully waking up. She frowned when she remembered Red Alert threatening to get her fired. Meanie, she thought. She reflected, though, that she had overreacted and acted badly. She should have been haughty like Prowl instead of getting physical like Ironhide.

She suddenly realized why her rump had that feeling in it. "Oh…" She looked up at Ratchet. He was watching her with his medic, mildly curious face. "You spanked me." She said, slightly astonished.

"Ah… yes, I did." He said, sounding a little nonplussed.

She considered this, along with her actions. He had been right to do that. She nodded to herself.

She was quite awake now. She turned and smiled at Ratchet. "I'm awake." She told him.

"Are you sure?" he asked, teasing lightly.

She nodded.

"Are you going to run off to Prowl again?" Ratchet asked. He was caught between wanting to watch her and needing to get his work done.

She cocked her head. She had run off to Prowl after vinegar incident. Poor Ratchet, she thought, he must think she hated him. She shook her head. "I'll stay with you for little while. I have an hour break around this time, anyway." She said, and she was well rewarded by a smile.

"Alright, sounds good." The work would still be there when she left.

Auri looked around.

"What do _you_ have to do?" the little femme asked after a thoughtful pause.

"Ah, just various things." He replied. "I've got to sort and clean up some replacement parts, there are some olds tools that need to be recalibrated and updated, and I've always got my desk to clean among other things… that's just a start."

Auri looked around more carefully. Her optics widened with something akin to shock as her little frame stiffened.

Ratchet cocked his head, curious and amused. She seemed almost horrified.

"How do you find anything on that desk?" the little femme asked, sounding taken aback.

"Ah, I shift through the piles…" Ratchet managed to not laugh as he replied.

"You cannot find anything effectively that way."

Ah! She was talking like Prowl! She even had her wings tilted like Prowl's. Ratchet's chassis shook ever so slightly with repressed laughter.

"It's not funny." The little femme said, tucking her chin reproachfully. "What if you really needed something fast?"

Ratchet got a hold on his amusement and rubbed her shoulder comfortingly. "I'll get to it, sweet-spark. It's not first priority."

She twitched her wings in disagreement. Just like Prowl.

"Please don't tell me that the desk is the center of the office and that order radiates out from it." Ratchet said grimly.

Auri didn't really want to disagree with him, but she couldn't let that go. "But… it is." she said, shifting her wings up protectively.

"Prowl has brain-washed you." Ratchet commented dryly, for that was something the Prowl believed.

"I learn quickly." She corrected, tucking her chin like Ironhide.

Ratchet chuckled. "Alright, sweet-spark, have it your way."

She sighed like Chromia.

"What do you want to do?" Ratchet asked after a minute.

"May I help you with something?" she asked, looking up at him with eager optics.

Ratchet looked around. There wasn't much he would want to put in her untrained hands.

"I'm very good at organizing things on desks…"

Ratchet chuckled at her again. "You're very bothered by that desk, aren't you?"

She nodded seriously.

"Alright," he set her on her feet. "You may clean up the desk if it means so much to you."

"Thank-you…!" she grinned up at him like he'd given her a handful of copper candy, and stretched up to hug him. He let himself be hugged then sent her off with a pat.

"Oh, go on." He said gruffly.

She scampered over to the desk and climbed onto the chair then stood on the chair, staring down at the disorder. She held her arms lightly folded across her chest as Prowl often did when examining a situation.

Ratchet watched her, deeply amused, but he was intrigued by her behavior as well. She was copying Prowl. _Prowl!_ Of all the bots to copy, Prowl! She did work under him, true, but they were very different bots, completely different bots. Prowl was always calm and everything he did was carefully calculated. Auri, on the other hand, was excited about this or that every time he saw her, and her actions… were not carefully calculated.

But, too, she was copying Ironhide and Chromia as well. Ratchet shook his head in wonder. She still had so much to learn. So much, so very much. And she learned through mimicry. The old medic half-smiled; she was a good little youngling.

She was sorting the objects on his desk now, reordering the piles. She started opening drawers on the desk. "Ooooh!"

Ratchet ducked his head over his work at her exclamation of perturbation. "Am I the messiest bot you've ever met?" he asked.

"No... You're just not orderly when it comes to non-vital objects." She said seriously, a look of concern on her little face.

"Ah." Ratchet said. Then he stepped out into the reception room to have a good chuckle.

He heard the phone ring, though, and he turned back, returning to the room in time to see Auri pick up his phone.

"Hello." Auri said in a professional tone, "NEST Base, Commander Pr – Ah, no, I mean, Chief Medical Officer Ratchet's- office. Aurion Blaze speaking. May I help you?"

Ratchet's jaw dropped. She was blithely answering his phone!

Auri didn't see him; she was still arranging the items on his desk. Her optics sparkled with amusement as she covered her mouth. A second later she said formally. "Ah, hello, Prowl."

Ratchet shook his head, bemused at this. There was a pause while Prowl said something.

"Yes, indeed." Auri said.

Pause. Ratchet leaned on the door-jam to watch her.

"Yes, sir."

Long pause. She looked serious and took a data-pad to write on.

"Hmm." She said. It was a sound of disapproval. She nodded. "Yes, commander."

Short pause.

"Yes, sir, I shall tell him."

There was another pause, and her face softened.

"Yes; I am, thank-you." She said, sounding touched. Prowl said something else, and she smiled. "I will. I think I'll be back in about an hour."

Pause.

"Alright. Thank-you, commander. Is there anything else I can do for you?"

Pause.

"You are welcome. See you later." She hung up the phone, and then she saw Ratchet. "That was Commander Prowl." She told him.

"I gathered as much." Ratchet said, rubbing his jaw. "What did he have to say?"

"He wants these reports turned in." she said, handing him the data-pad with the list on it. "And he is not pleased with you tardiness." She informed him politely.

"Tardiness!" Ratchet exclaimed. "I'll tell him a thing or two about tardiness next time I have his chassis dragged in her for a routine check up!"

"Shall I relay that message to him?" Auri asked; she looked very poised and professional, but there was a playful glint in her optics.

Ratchet made himself calm down."Ah, no." He said, smiling in spite of himself. "I'll do the reports."

Auri went back to her work. Ratchet went to his computer and typed up the reports. It got very quiet in the room.

Ratchet finished after a while and looked around, wondering when Auri had left.

Then he was surprised; she was still there.

"My, you're quiet." He commented, slightly bothered by this silence.

Auri grinned as she looked over, "I can talk your audio processors into a short-out if you prefer." She said, her optics sparkling. "Prowl just likes quiet when he works, so I've figured out how to work quietly." She added.

"Ah…" Ratchet said, starting to muse. What was there that he wanted to know about her that he wouldn't dare ask when Ironhide was around? He knew she was very happy with her guardians and couldn't be more content with them. He couldn't think of anything.

"Well," he said after a little bit, "Is there anything you want to ask me that you don't feel comfortable asking when your guardians are with you when you come for check-ups?"

Auri looked over from her work, a perplexed look on her face. "Why would I not want to ask something in their presence?" she asked.

"I don't know." Ratchet answered, "I just asked in case there was."

"Oh." She said. She thought for a couple minutes. "Nope. There's nothing I have to ask."

"Oh. Okay."

They worked in silence for a couple moments.

"Actually," Auri said. "There is."

"Alright, ask away."

"Will I always miss my old guardian?"

Ratchet grimaced, feeling pain. He paused his work and looked over at Auri. She seemed perfectly happy, content as she neatened his desk. "Ah, well, sweet-spark… I think you probably will miss him always." He said. He hesitated then went on slowly. "I think because he didn't fill certain gaps, they will always register some emptiness in your being. And even when those gaps have been filled, some emptiness will remain."

"Oh." She didn't fully understand him. "Explain further, please?" she asked.

Ratchet twisted some wires carefully. This was going to be hard to explain. "Well… it's sort of like this. See how there are drawers in the desk?"

She nodded.

"Part of your system is rather like that desk with drawers. And each drawer must be filled with something in particular. Your guardian didn't fill those drawers; he left them empty."

"No, he didn't." Auri said, suddenly looking mulish.

"Sh, I'm explaining. He didn't fill those drawers,"

"He did." She interrupted, looking upset.

Ratchet rubbed his head. "Auri, please let me continue without interrupting me."

"Yes, sir."

"He didn't fill those drawers,"

She glared at him.

"He didn't, and they stayed empty, and you felt that."

"I did not." She stated, scowling.

"And you missed him." Ratchet said doggedly. "Then he left, and after a while you left and came here. Ironhide and Chromia are filling those drawers now. Once they are full, that part of you will be complete. But some of the labels etched on the drawers will still say 'not quite full yet.' And thus you will always feel that something is empty. You'll always miss him somewhat." He finished. "Okay. I'm done explaining."

"He didn't neglect me!" Auri burst out.

"I never said that."

"YES! You did; you did in other words! I'm not a little sparkling who doesn't catch meanings! You said he neglected me! He did not!"

Ratchet rested his head on his hand. She was in complete denial. He knew that now that the subject had been brought up, he would have to make her see.

"Did he hold you much?" he asked.

"Yes." Auri said.

Ratchet frowned. Her systems gave every indication that she had rarely ever been held. "Is that true, Auri?" he asked gently, looking at her.

She looked like she was going to cry. "I didn't mean to lie." she said sadly, ducking her head. "No… He didn't. But I thought he did

"It's alright." Ratchet told her. "Did he interact with you a lot? Talk, play, like Ironhide and Chromia do?"

She started to nod. Then she stopped as an uncertain look come into her optics. "No…" she shook her head. "He didn't actually…"

Ratchet felt at a loss at what to do next.

"But I wasn't neglected." Auri said firmly.

Ratchet crossed his arms in perplexed exasperation. She was refusing to believe him.

"Ah, what _did_ he do?" Ratchet asked.

Auri thought for a minute. "He cleaned cannons." She said. Then she paused, searching. "He brought me Energon and told me stories." She said. "He sang songs to me… lovely songs… and I fell asleep. And then he always left after that."

Ratchet nodded seriously to show that he was still listening.

"He brought me toys to play with." She said. "When I got older he brought me many things to study. I learned _everything_." She was pleased with this.

"Did he like this?"

She started to nod confidently. Then the unsure look came back into her optics. "I _think_ so… we never talked about anything."

"Oh. I see."

"But he didn't neglect me."

Ratchet nodded. A theory was forming in his processors. Perhaps it was not that she _wouldn't_ believe him. Perhaps she _couldn't_ believe him. It was possible that, if her old guardian had had a bit of medical training, he could have altered something within her processors to give her the impression that she wasn't neglected. Her body would know that she was being neglected, but she, her intelligence, wouldn't know.

Why, though? Why?

"Ratchet," she said in a wheedling voice, "I didn't mean to make you mad."

He smiled at her. "I'm not mad. I'm just thinking."

"Oh." She said uncertainly.

Ratchet was curious about something now. "When he left, did you feel the same way you do when Ironhide leaves? –All anxious and unable to cope?"

She shook her head. "Nope. I was fine when he left. He left lots of toys to keep me company."

Ratchet opened his mouth to say that toys never filled gaps the way a guardian did, but then he shut it, sensing that it would only create an argument.

"Why do you ask?" Auri asked.

"I was curious." He replied. "And now I think part of your issue with Ironhide and Chromia leaving is separation anxiety. How long would your old guardian stay away?"

"Days and days… sometimes a week. He usually came back a little beaten up."

"A warrior?"

"Maybe… I don't know what he was."

"Ah…"

He ribbed his sore arm, wondering what to do next. "Let's just forget about this conversation." He said.

"Okay," She said amiably,

Ratchet looked for a new subject, one less controversial. "Do you like working with Prowl?"

"I love working with Prowl!" she said grinning.

"How is it going with the twins being there for four hours a day?" he asked.

"Oh…!" she widened her optics. "It's going interestingly. Usually Prowl and they manage to tolerate each other. Fortunately the twins haven't decided to do anything stupid yet. I hope they won't! Prowl will put them in the brig to do their work if they do decide to do something stupid, and they wouldn't like that."

Ratchet nodded.

"It's quite interesting in the office." She went on. "Why, I even get to answer the phone now and talk with liaisons. Well, only some of them. Mainly just Agent john Garrison. Prowl can't stand him."

Ratchet smiled encouragingly, but he hated Agent John Garrison.

"The phone rang one time, and Prowl looked at the caller ID. And you'd think the phone was a Decepticon the way he looked at it. Then he asked if I'd like to talk to Agent John Garrison again. I said I would." She talked on some more, telling him this and that about what she did. She needed very little encouragement to keep her going.

Ratchet listened, content.

Then Prowl walked in.

"Ah, hello, Prowl." Ratchet said, "What can I do to you today?"

Auri started to giggle, but she cut it short quite quickly.

Prowl's wings shifted in slight disapproval. "I merely came to return these reports." He told Ratchet, holding out a data-pad.

"Oh, thanks." Ratchet said ungratefully.

"Please be so good as to read them and respond promptly." Prowl ordered.

"Yes, Commander." Ratchet said, taking the data-pad and scrolling through it. He felt extremely snarky all of a sudden. "Bleah." He said, hating the looks of the documents. He gave Prowl an unpleasant look.

Prowl's optics narrowed. "I handle the liaisons." He said. "Do you want that job?"

Ratchet paused and readjusted his perspective. "No, Prowl; I don't. I'm sorry. I will get the back to you a.s.a.p.. Good?"

"Yes, thank-you." Prowl said, nodding and looking less unpleasant. He looked over at Auri. The little femme was almost done with the desk.

Ratchet could have sworn that he saw a pleased and nearly smug look in the Second-in-Command's optics for half a moment. Then Prowl turned and left.

Ratchet reflected that he had not laughed, or nearly laughed, this much in just one day in a very long time. He went back to work for a few minutes, and then Auri came over.

"I made your desk very nice, Ratchet." She said.

He picked her up. "Did you?" he asked, "Let's go see it." he carried her over and set her on the chair, keeping an arm round her though. He surveyed his desk.

It was perfect. It looked like Prowl's desk.

Auri hopped down and pulled out the drawers one by one. They were perfect as well. She explained where she had put everything, and why she had put it there. She was very thorough, Ratchet saw, and there was a suspicious amount of logic in her placement of various items. Prowl had taught her well. That's why he's looked so pleased when he'd looked over there.

Auri looked up to Ratchet for approval and wondered at the bemused, almost smug look on his face. Then he smiled down on her.

"I like it very much." He said sincerely. "It hasn't looked this good since the set up crew put it in here."

Auri beamed happily.

"I should watch you more often." He said.

She giggled.

"No, I should kidnap you."

She grinned and giggled more.

He picked her up and sat down, cuddling her. "I guess Ironhide wouldn't tolerate that, huh?"

"Nope. Not even a little." Auri said happily as she sat back to smile at him. Then she caught sight of his bandaged arm. "Awww! I forgot that I clawed you! Awww… poor Ratchet!" she spoke with a sympathetic pout.

"Ah, it's alright." He said.

She took his wrist and scanned his arm. "You need better care than that." She said, pulling out her standard-issue first-aid kit.

"Huh-uh-uh!" he pulled his arm back as she started to loosen the bandaging.

She gave him a look. "I've studied nursing quite thoroughly, Mr. Medic. You let me re-bandage that arm now; no nonsense."

Now she was copying him! He gave up. She took his arm and removed the bandaging.

"Awww, poor Ratchet-bot." she cooed. "I'm sorry clawed you."

Ratchet had some malfunction in his vocal processors. "Uh-huh… 's okay."

"Yeahhh… it's not _too_ bad." She encouraged.

He was an old medic. He knew that. Then he realized slowly that she was acting more like a sparkling playing a make-believe game of doctor's office than like a mature bot tending his arm. She tended it perfectly though.

She cleaned the series of wounds gently and got out some fresh bandaging. "Yeah, poor Ratchet…"

He thought he was going to die if she said 'poor Ratchet' again. He wondered if he would be the first Autobot to ever die from repressed laughter.

She wrapped his arm with the bandaging just beautifully. "There you go." She said when she was finished, patting his arm. "That should be _much_ better."

"Thank-you." He managed to say.

"Always ready to be of service." She responded seriously.

He inspected her work. "Very nicely done." He said, and she beamed happily. "Are you gonna go help Prowl now?" he asked. Too much of this might kill him by overdose.

"Uh-huh." She said nodding. She hugged his neck and gave him a kiss on the check. He hadn't been kissed in a long time.

Auri hopped down and scampered off.

Ratchet dropped his face on his very clean desk. 'Yeah,' he thought, 'Overdose.'


	28. Chapter 28, Not So Alone

My summer class started today! It's a World Literature class that runs for three hours a day, four days a week. Today, we spent an hour talking about heroes and epics; it was cool! Like, really cool! Anyways, I will be reading lots and lots of ancient stories, so I may not be able to update my own story as much, but I will try to keep it going. :) And hey, the class ends in four weeks. (I'm gonna do my final exam, and then a couple days later, I'm gonna get to go to TF3!)

Okay! Chapter 28! And thanks to the new reviewer people! XD And grins to the loyal ones! ;)

* * *

Chapter 28

**Not So Alone**

Ironhide and Chromia both were still off Base, and it was night time.

She'd had a nice time with Ratchet after she'd come out of recharge. And her work with Prowl had gone well. She'd gone back and played in Med-Bay while Ratchet was there. Then the twins had entertained her greatly, and she'd watched _Star Trek_ (_2009)_ with Mirage and them.

But now it was night time, and she was alone in Ironhide and Chromia's quarters.

The quarters were quiet… very quiet… too quiet…

Auri shivered and rolled over.

She had told Ironhide and Chromia that she would be fine. She had believed that she would be fine.

Moonracer had wanted her to stay with her at her quarters and have a sleep over, but Auri had wanted to be in her own quarters and had said no, thank-you.

She had told Moonracer that she would be fine. She had believed that she would be fine.

Arcee had wanted her to stay with her at her quarters and have a sleep over, but Auri had wanted to be in her own quarters and had said no, thank-you.

She had told Arcee that she would be fine. She had believed that she would be fine.

But now, in the quiet dark, she was not fine. She was alone.

Alone was bad.

Alone was terrible.

Alone was her worst nightmare.

Decepticons came when she was alone.

There weren't Decepticons around here, but she couldn't stop thinking about them.

They had always been lurking in the ruined streets outside of her hiding place when she was tiny. They had been looking for things to hurt. They had sometimes come so near that she could feel pain in her spark. They had pressed terror into her being simply by smashing windows down the road even though they hadn't known about her. They liked finding things to break. They had found a victim once, a lone mech against several Cons. The crunching of metal as they beat him up still echoed. He had yelled, screamed, but nobody had come, nobody had stopped the beating, nobody had rescued him...

Auri whimpered and sat up. She couldn't stay here alone like this.

OoOOooOooOOoO

A repeated tap on the door broke Optimus out of recharge. "Mphf." Nobody seemed to believe that Primes needed to recharge just as all other Bots did. Either that, or a problem had occurred.

Optimus rose, being careful to not disturb Elita, and went to the door.

Opening the door, he found everything peaceful and calm. "Yes?" he said to the little Bot in the dim hallway.

Auri did not look at him. "I cannot recharge." She murmured, hugging her arms. Optimus crouched down to her height. She went on talking. "It is too quiet without them, and I keep being reminded of being alone and waiting for Decepticons to leave the area." She spoke quietly as if she was talking to herself. "It was frightening when they came near; they came near enough that I could hear their cannons roar as they blasted things, sometimes. Other times, when they were searching in stealth, they came so near I could sense their desire; they simply wanted to tear things apart, wreck Autobots, and drain Energon. Neutrals were supposed to be safe from them, but as far away from a real command post as I was, I knew that it would be the end if they found me, or a terrible beginning…" She shuddered as she trailed off.

Optimus brushed his hand over his face. Auri flinched but quickly returned to her quiet, low-charge state. "You are here with us now." Optimus told her softly as he reached out his hand to her face. He laid the side of his thumb against the line of her jaw, spreading his fingers evenly apart, their tips resting on her neck. _You are in my hand, life or death; I will do all in my power to defend your life. You are safe._ His touch communicated protection and peace to her, the same touch that Decepticons feared.

After a moment, he moved his hand away and rubbed her shoulder. "When do Ironhide and Chromia come back?"

Auri shook her head. "They will be back in the morning time…" she trailed off. "It's just too quiet without them." She said. "I am used to them interacting physically with each other, whether it is playing or fighting, touching, I am used to it. Even when they are silent and in recharge, I know they are there."

Optimus nodded. "You have a close guardian-ward bond with them."

"I miss them." She sounded less calm now.

"I know. I know." He said, slipping his arm around her slight form. "But they will come back, and you will have them around again."

She nodded rather doubtfully.

"Come, we need to recharge. You will stay with Elita and me for night."

"Okay…" she murmured, "Thank-you…"

"Ah, you are already into half-recharge." Optimus commented. Gently, he picked up the little femme as he rose, and she cuddled instinctively against his chest. He carried her to the couch in his quarters and settled her on the couch. "Recharge well, little one." He brushed his fingers across her head. 'Poor little Bot. All tired out and feeling lonely.' Optimus thought, 'She should be content and able to recharge now. I hope. It's hard to gauge what younglings will do sometimes.'

He slipped back to his room to Elita.

Morning arrived quietly. Optimus came out of recharge, and a smile lit his face when he saw that Elita was awake and sitting just two feet away, watching him with delight on her face.

"G'morning, light of my spark." He purred.

"Good morning, treasure of my existence" she replied as she lay down. A second later she rolled over, right next him. "Why did you leave in the night?"

"Auri came banging on the door," He explained, running his fingers on her side, "She couldn't recharge because Ironhide and Chromia weren't in the quarters."

"I'd think it would be harder to recharge with the amorous couple there." Elita mused, rubbing her hand across his armoring.

"Not so for this one." Optimus answered, smiling. "She said she missed them and was used to them being noisy." He frowned then, "She said the quiet made her think of waiting for Decepticons to go away."

"Poor little spark."

"I listened to her talk for while. Then I put her to bed on the couch and haven't heard from her since."

Elita caressed the side of his face. "I love how kind and caring you are…"

"I would not want to be otherwise." Optimus assured her softly.

She smiled back for a few seconds before a slight irritated look flashed across her face. "I need to refuel."

Optimus leaned closer and whispered, "I'll get you some Energon." He touched his lips to her face then he rose and went to the other room, leaving her on the recharge berth.

Entering the main room, Optimus stopped with surprise at what he saw on the couch. Auri was still there on one end, where he'd laid her last night. She was still in deep recharge. But, Bumblebee was on the other end of the couch, the end nearest to the door, in deep recharge as well.

The young scout had been a several weeks-long exploration mission. He must have returned in the night and been too tired to walk all the way to his own quarters.

Optimus smiled and went over to look at his youngling. Some grime adorned the small, yellow Bot's armor, and he had a couple dings in his plating, but other than that he looked fine. Optimus gave him a gentle 'welcome home' pat on the shoulder. It was good to have him back and safe.

Optimus returned to Elita with some Energon.

"Bumblebee is back." He told her as she sat up. "And he's recharging on our couch," he added as he handed Elita her Energon.

"Good; I'm glad." She answered warmly. Then she paused. "Ah… then where's Auri?" she asked before sipping.

"On the other end of the couch," Optimus watched her carefully to see her reaction.

Elita made a quick movement to keep from spewing her Energon in surprise. Then she grinned at Optimus. "You were waiting to see me do that." She accused, chuckling.

"Yes."

"Where is she actually?"

Optimus leaned closer to her, "Are you charging me with falsehood, Elita?" he rumbled, knowing that she loved the way he growled her name when they were play-fighting.

"I will view the evidence, first." She countered, winking at him and rising to go look.

He came with her and provided a good support for her to lean her back on as she surveyed the younglings in recharge. Bumblebee was half curled up, half sprawled out, having dropped into recharge as soon as he hit the couch: his left leg hung off the edge of the couch with his right 'ankle' caught under it. His face was to the side, tucked tightly between his shoulder and the armrest of the couch. His right arm was propped up against the couch at a slightly odd angle while his left one was bent, pillowing his head. His doors wings were completely relaxed and rested limply on his shoulders; although, the right one was leaning on the back of the couch.

He was going to be stiff when he woke up, after sleeping in that position.

Auri was curled up protectively on her left side with her left hand under her cheek and her right arm against the other side of her face. Her left door-wing was folded neatly against her back while her right door-wing was tilted forwards over her head.

"Aren't they cute?" Elita whispered.

"They are." Optimus whispered back.

The two great Autobots stood leaning on each other for a while as they watched the young ones recharge. Then Optimus was informed over the intercom that Prowl wanted to speak with him. He relayed the notice of his duty to Elita as he moved her off of his chest-plating.

"See you later," she said softly.

"Not too much later, I hope." Optimus said. Then he left.

Elita finished her Energon and went to put the cube away. 'Oh! Optimus Prime! Bad Bot! He skipped off without refueling. I'll just have to track him down and make sure he does.' She decided, subspacing a couple cubes. She looked the younglings over again. They seemed to still be completely out. She wouldn't be gone long; they would most likely not exit recharge until sometime after she got back. Thus assured, she left.

OooOOoOoOOooO

**Exit Recharge 4, 3, 2, 1, 0…**

Bumblebee came out of recharge and lay still while his systems slowly rebooted.

**Energon levels: low**

'Yeah, I know. Bot, do I know!' he thought to himself. 'Ouch! I shouldn't have dropped into recharge until I was in a better position.'

He sat up stiffly and repositioned himself, 'What? There's a femme on this couch?'

He buzzed in surprised. She was a small femme, a little smaller than he, and brightly colored.

Who was she? When she did arrive? Why, exactly, was she in here with Elita and Optimus? She was very pink and had flames detailing. Could he have a sister? That would amazingly cool! …and a little wild.

The little scout was still gazing at the new femme with curiosity when she stirred.

Auri came out of recharge feeling much invigorated. She knew that being around Prime had strengthened her, and she smiled, thinking about Elita. She was nearly drained of Energon, though. She had not felt like refueling last night, so anxious she had been. And then her restless motions had nearly finished her supply.

She shifted her door-wing back and sat up, wondering if Elita kept Energon the same place Chromia did. Then she jumped up and yelled.

"Whoa! ?"

The other Bot started back in surprise at her outburst but didn't say anything. He only stared back in astonishment and twitched his sunny door-wings. His optics swept down to her feet. She was standing on Prime and Elita's couch.

"Oh, I'm sorry." Auri apologized, sitting back down. "You startled me."

His optics glowed softly in apology; he ducked his head before nodding an acknowledgement.

"Let me rephrase," She said thoughtfully. "Good morning! What's your name?" she asked cheerfully.

Bee dipped his head and shifted his shoulder, tilting a door-wing to hide his face. Though only a little shy, he really didn't want to confront the 'oh, you can't speak? Why not? Oh…' conversation. Everybot on the whole base could talk normally, except for him. He enjoyed the creativity involved with communicating with the audio resources he had, but sometimes he just wished he could just speak regularly.

"Aw, come on… you can tell me!" the little femme coaxed, sidling over a little. He peeked over his wing. Her face was awfully cute, especially with those particularly blue optics, set off by her brightly detailed door-wings. He ducked back.

"Please…?" she asked. He heard the most winning note ever in her voice.

He peeked over his wing again, reconsidering.

"Is-? -Whoa, but I'm low on Energon." She muttered, steadying herself.

He whistled, holding up a 'wait a minute!' finger, and went to the storage wall. He tapped a hidden door, which opened, revealing a store of Energon cubes. He got a cube for her and a cube for himself, before returning to the couch.

"Thank-you." She said politely when he gave her one. He nodded eagerly, and climbed back onto the couch and sat to refuel himself.

"My name is Aurion-Blaze." She began conversationally after a couple moments. "But I usually just go by Auri. Prime helped me select my name, and Elita first called me by my nick-name."

Bee gave her a thumbs-up sign with a warm smiling look.

"Prowl calls me Aurion, though." She said rather doggedly. "Unless I majorly disturb him. Then it's the full name."

Bee twittered in amusement. Then he stiffened and assumed a Prowl-like stance and pointed a stern forefinger.

"Prowl's door-wings would be a little higher," Auri said, giggling, "Other than that, it's him."

Pleasure at making her laugh floated through Bee's processors. This was fun. He respected Prowl greatly though; he decided that he probably ought not mock the Second-in-Command.

"I don't perturb him too much." Auri went on, "Usually. Usually the worst I get is that little upward twitch of his wings."

Bee nodded.

"Then I reason with him, and he shakes his head and sends me on some errand or lets me take patrol."

"_Oooh…?"_ Bee's motion made the sound. He looked at her with surprise. She went on patrols?

"I work under Prowl, and I take patrol, too." She confirmed, smiling. "Didn't think it was possible?"

_Mmmm…_ he shrugged his shoulders before shaking his head.

"That's okay. I had to argue a bit for it, and he had a whole lot of things to do that day." She said, before sipping a little more Energon.

Bumblebee twittered laughingly. Prowl was a Bot of endless wonders!

"What's your name?" she asked out of the blue.

_O-oh…_ he retreated again.

"Is it something terrible?" she asked. He shook his head.

"Oswald, or Edmund, or… Rumplestilskin?" She teased, her optics sparkling playfully.

He shook his head, his optics flashing in amusement.

"Is it… one word?" She asked.

His optics started to twinkle. She was going to play a guessing game to find out his name.

Auri saw the twinkle and it encouraged her. "A compound word?" She asked. Compound word names were common among the bots. He nodded.

"And you're a yellow Camaro … hm." She downed some Energon while she thought. "Oh… wait! I know who you are!" she said, beaming at him.

Bumblebee cocked his head in question.

"You are Bumblebee!"

He nodded vigorously and clapped his hands. She grinned.

"I've been looking forward to meeting you!" she said happily,

Bumblebee started back a little, placing a hand on his chest in a 'Me? Why me?' gesture.

"I sure have! The data chip regarding the humans' language was completely intriguing, and I wanted to meet the one who put it together."

_O-oh…_ He looked pleased. None of the other new-comer Bots had processed much about the tool.

She smiled, "I never guessed that he would be the least talkative mech on the planet."

He winced.

"Oh! No! I'm Sorry! I'm awfully sorry!" She jumped up, standing on the couch again, "I didn't mean to be rude or anything…!"

He signed for her to calm down with smooth, soothing hand gestures.

"I'm awfully sorry…" she repeated even as she followed his request. He pointed for her to sit back down. She did this immediately.

'OK' he signed, nodding seriously. OK.

"I still feel terrible…" she said.

Bumblebee shook his head. He set down his Energon and reached out to pat her arm comfortingly to send the message that he wasn't mad.

She smiled shyly and touched his hand. He nodded, letting her know it was okay. She smiled in full.

He glanced down at her empty Energon cube,

_Hmm..?_ he pointed to it.

"Do I need more? Yes, please."

He fetched two more cubes, he wanted another one as well, and he returned to sit beside the femme-ling on the couch.

She smiled sideways at him in thanks, accepting the fact that he wasn't going to communicate verbally, and they sat in companionable silence, slowly draining their Energon cubes. Their feet dangled off the edge of the couch, which was sized for larger Autobots, and their backs didn't touch the back of it. Their door-wings tilted out and to the side, relaxed, not tense.

Companionable silence was nice.

OoOOooOooOOoO

Elita returned, satisfied that Optimus was well fueled but a little exasperated that it had taken so long to track him down. One would think it wouldn't be so difficult to track down a great blue and red Semi-truck on a military base. She shook her head, smiled, and entered their quarters only to stop short at the sight of the two little Autobots sitting on the couch.

"Hi, Elita." Auri said cheerfully.

"Hello, Auri. Hello, 'Bee; welcome back."

Bumblebee, very busy with refueling, nodded at her.

"Did you recharge alright?" Elita asked Auri, concern for the little femme showing on her face.

"Yes, thank-you." Auri said, smiling at her with a fond look. "Thank-you for looking after me so well, Elita. I love it very much." She made a gentle motion with her hand from her jaw to her spark; it was a sign usually only used by sparklings. It was a sign of love, gratitude, trust, or any number of wonderful things.

Elita went to hug the femme-ling, unable to speak with the emotion that flowed through her spark at this simple gesture.

Auri returned the hug. Then Elita reluctantly let her go.

"I've had a very good time here." Auri said. "Bee," she stopped. "Uh-oh. I have to go immediately. I lost track of the time. Prowl don't like lateness." She hopped off the couch. "See you later. See you later, Bumblebee; it was nice meeting you."

Bee nodded and smiled back at her. Then she ran off.


	29. Chapter 29, What I've Done

Eeeee! I'm so excited! This story has gotten one-hundred reviews! *huge grin* Thanks, readers!

So, just about everything Bumblebee says I have taken from a song, TV show, or movie. Songs will be in italics.

* * *

Chapter 29

**What I've Done**

Throughout the day, Auri "kept an eye out" for Bumblebee, eager to engage him in further conversation, albeit nonverbal. Three times she saw him leaving an area she was entering, and once she saw him look away from her before exiting a room she'd come in. She saw him talking with Sunny and Sides across a street once and made optic contact, but he was gone by the time she got over to there. She began to get the feeling that he was avoiding her. Then, late in the afternoon, she came upon him and Moonracer talking by a parking meter. Moonracer was laughing, and he was chatting on in a refined British accent.

He wasn't shy at all! Auri seethed at the betrayal and the falsity. She was hurt, deeply hurt, and furious for having been drawn in. And she lost it.

"Oh, hello, BUMBLE-Bee!" she snapped, coming out from behind an over-parked Jeep. Bee twitched and a guilty look crossed his face. She glared as him. "Weren't you just adorable this morning when you led me on with a too-shy-to-speak masquerade? That was pretty funny, wasn't it!" She stepped close, crowding him as she'd learned from watching Ironhide. "Well, guess what! Two can play at this game. Don't bother running away from me anymore; I'm never speaking to you again!" She shoved him and spun away to transform.

"Ooo…" Moonracer murmured as a flaming Audi speed away.

"'Oh, not good!'" Ewan McGregor's voice lamented over Bee's radio speakers.

"Are you okay, Bee?" Moonracer asked softly as the yellow bot ducked his head.

"'_My heart is down, my head is turning around._'" He was miserable. He had basically lied to the little flame-job femme, and now she'd seen him conversing with Moonracer; he knew had hurt her feelings by avoiding her, and now he knew he'd hurt her by duplicity. He said good-bye to Moonracer and went off the find something to kick.

OoOOooOooOOoO

Ratchet looked up as Ironhide sauntered into Med-Bay, and his defense systems stepped up a notch. Ironhide usually never walked into Med-Bay. Usually he was dragging another Autobot in, or he was being dragged in himself, kicking and yelling in protest.

"Did everything go well out there?" Ratchet asked. Ironhide nodded. "Auri missed you." Ratchet commented, knowing that Ironhide wanted to talk about Auri, not about the mission.

Ironhide smiled. "Yeah, well, I missed her, too." He paused. "How did she handle the separation this time?"

"Ah…" Ratchet considered his words carefully. "I think she did pretty well. She got a little verbal a couple times, and there were some tears, but nothing like what Prowl had to go through the first time you left."

"Nobody got stun-gunned?" Ironhide asked, an amused smile playing about his mouth.

"Nobody got stun-gunned." Ratchet said. "She played happily in here for a couple hours after she finished with Prowl." There was something akin to wonder in the old medic's tone.

"She's has quite the imagination, doesn't she?"

Ratchet nodded. It had been marvelous getting to watch a young bot play make-believe games.

Ironhide's gaze landed on Ratchet's normally cluttered desk, and his optics widened in wonder. The few things that were left on it were neatly stacked and positioned nicely. "Ratchet…!"

"Prowl's little monster was aghast at such disorderliness." Ratchet said, chuckling.

Ironhide grinned.

Ratchet's thoughts shifted away to something more serious. Ironhide was in a good mood. Now was as good a time as ever.

"So, 'Hide, what is your opinion on spanking?" Ratchet asked, sounding like it was out of the blue.

"Oh, well," Ironhide wasn't suspicious at all; it was just conversation. "I think that, occasionally, under certain circumstances, it may be necessary. If a youngling is being defiant and rebellious or is completely out of control and not listening, a firm swat would not be uncalled for."

Ratchet nodded slowly. Ironhide then saw that this wasn't just conversation. He saw that there was something behind the medic's topic. He gave Ratchet a careful look. Did the medic think that he had struck Auri at some point?

Ironhide went on. "Beatings are wrong, and abuse is unacceptable." He said, "But a swat given by a loving caretaker with the youngling's betterment in mind, that I will not gainsay. Auri's always been good and sweet; there have been a couple times when I've had to talk with her firmly about something, but she's never outright done something that called for serious punishment. I would swat Auri if she ever needed it, but she never has."

"Well, she needed it yesterday." Ratchet said meaningfully.

Ironhide stiffened.

The light in Ironhide's optics changed as Ratchet opened his mouth to add something.

"Run, Ratchet." First Aid calmly said from his work bench.

Ratchet ran. He bolted from the room as Ironhide lunged towards him.

The emergency chartreuse Hummer shot out of the Med-Bay and swerved out onto the street with squealing of tires.

A black GMC Topkick crashed through the door behind him, his tires making dark marks on the pavement as his engine revved.

Ratchet sped away, engaging his sirens.

" …!" his siren screamed. Jeeps swerved and humans jumped out of the way and watched as he went by. Then shouts went up as Ironhide flew by a couple seconds later.

"HONK HONK!" the truck horn blared as he tore past the people.

Ratchet knew that there was no way that Ironhide was going to give up this chase until he'd caught the offending medic. He swerved around a corner, finding a clear stretch of street, and really stepped on it hard. Ironhide was gaining on him.

Ironhide would crash through anything to get to him if need be, Ratchet knew that, but he also knew of one place that was designed to hold Ironhide. The brig. It kept Ironhide from breaking _out_, and thus it would keep Ironhide from breaking _in_.

Ratchet squealed around two more corners; then he had a clear shot to the brig.

Burning rubber as he slowed, he skidded through the open front doors of the brig, transforming once he was inside. He bolted past Hound, who was on guard duty, and darted into an empty cell, slamming the door shut, almost dinging the black Topkick's bumper.

Ratchet panted, not because he breathed air and was out of breath, but because his systems were slightly overloaded by that unprepared-for sprint.

He leaned on the back wall as Ironhide transformed.

Ironhide eyed at him with the tiniest amount of amusement. But, when he spoke, there was no amusement to be heard.

"You've got some explaining to do, Ratchet." He sounded like Ratchet' father had after a minor incident with some explosives.

Ratchet sat down and rested a hand over his spark chamber. "Let my systems slow a little first; I'll tell you everything."

Ironhide nodded, leaning his shoulder against the cell bars. Ratchet noted grimly that he looked like a robot James Dean.

Ratchet's systems slowed back down to their normal rate, and he sighed. "Alright, 'Hide. You ready to listen?"

Ironhide nodded, and Ratchet told him the whole story without interruption. Ironhide seemed fairly calm and content by the time Ratchet finished.

"And by the time she left, she was perfectly happy, and we were actually better friends than before." Ratchet added, just to be safe.

"Okay." Ironhide said, not mad any more. He turned and started to leave nonchalantly.

"Hey," Ratchet went to the door, "Can you get me out of here?"

"Ah…" Ironhide paused, a flicker of amusement played in his optics. "Maybe I want you in."

"Ironhide!" Ratchet protested.

"I'll tell Hound to let you out in thirty minutes." Ironhide said, smiling. "Give you time to think about things."

Ratchet frowned then gave up. "Oh, alright. Have it your way." He grumbled.

"I will." Ironhide said, leaving.

Ratchet lay down and relaxed. It was actually kind of nice being in here for no reason. He could take a little break.

He sat up suddenly, a terrible thought entering his processors.

::RATCHET TO RED ALERT!:: he sent over the intercom frantically.

::Red Alert here.::

::I just told Ironhide what happened. I think he may be coming for you.::

::I'm not too worried.::

::WHAT?:: Ratchet felt anxious; something had to be wrong! Red Alert was not worried?

::Look down three cells and across the aisle.:: Red Alert told him placidly.

Ratchet looked. There was Red Alert, sitting calmly behind bars. Red Alert waved to him.

"Oh." Ratchet said.

"I saw him go into Med-Bay, and I knew you'd have to tell him sooner or later." Red Alert explained. "I figured sooner."

"Oh." Ratchet said. "Oh, so that's why the brig doors were open."

Red Alert nodded.

"Thanks." Ratchet said. He went back to take a nap.

OoOOooOooOOoO

Ironhide found Red Alert's office completely empty except for Trailbreaker.

"Looking for something, Ironhide?" the Jeep bot asked.

"Yeah." Ironhide said gruffly. "Red Alert."

Trailed Breaker widened his optics. "Red Alert is in the brig."

"The… brig…?"

Trail Breaker nodded.

"Thanks." Ironhide said, turning to leave. He grinned as he went out the door. So, those two were taken care of.

He sauntered off, heading towards the challenge course.

Then he saw Bumblebee and waved to him. Bee came over and chirped a hello.

"Welcome back, Bumblebee," Ironhide greeted, coming over to his little protégé. "The scouting mission went well, I hope?"

Bee nodded, "'_Spectacular, spectacular-!_'" he played.

"Good. Have any trouble with Con?"

"'_Lazy, amazing day!'_" Bee shook his head.

"Nice. How about a round weapons practice, then? You don't want to lose your touch with the cannons."

Bee nodded eagerly.

The weapons practice went well. But, Ironhide could sense that the younger mech was a little unhappy about something. The small bot probably just needed some quality time, Ironhide supposed.

"Nice shooting out there, Bee." He said as they were walking back to Autobot quarters.

"'_Thank-you very much!'_" Bee replied.

Ironhide looked over the little scout. "Come over for Energon?" he asked a moment later.

"'You bet!'" Bee replied.

Ironhide patted Bee's shoulder. "Come on."

They walked back to Ironhide and Chromia's quarters, Bee telling him about the scout mission as they went.

The quarters' doors slid back, and mechs entered. Auri bounded off the couch to greet Ironhide but then she stopped short. She took one look at the two mechs then headed for the door.

"See you later, Ironhide." She said, patting him as she went past. He stopped her with a finger.

"Hang on, don't you want to meet Bumblebee?" he asked gesturing to the other small Bot.

"I already have; thank-you very much." She said coolly, not even glancing at the yellow scout. "See you later, 'Hide."

She left quickly. Ironhide frowned. This was unusual…

"Is she alright?" Ironhide asked Chromia. His femme frowned, rising from the couch.

"She seemed a little uptight when she first came in," Chromia said, "but she's been fine since then. I had just chalked it up to be a little tension from not having us around for a couple days… but I guess that's not the case."

"I'd better go check and see what's going on." Ironhide said, "I'll be back." He headed out the door.

Ironhide transformed into truck mode to look for Auri. He saw her vanishing around a corner and sped up a little to catch up with her. "Auri!" he called.

He came around the corner expecting to find her waiting. Instead, she was running away from him. "No you don't. Not when you're hurting." His tires squealed as his slammed into pursuit. Within moments he was cornering a little femme car.

He transformed, planting his feet well apart so she couldn't slip past him. "What's going on, my little one?" he asked gently.

She transformed. She was shaking, her optics dark with emotion and damp with yet unshed tears.

"I- I- I h-hate B-Bumblebee!"

Ironhide felt shocked, but he hid it. "You do?" he asked gently.

She nodded; the tears were falling now.

"Why, little one? What did he do?" he asked, kneeling to cradle her to his shoulder.

"H-he was so c-cute this morning. And I l-liked him."

"Uh-huh…?"

"But he wouldn't say anything. H-he made like he was t-too shy to say anything. And that was c-cute, t-too." She stopped talking to sob a little.

Ironhide nodded, but he didn't feel enlightened. So far, all he had gotten from the conversation was that Bumblebee was cute.

After a few moments, Ironhide brushed a few tears from her cheek, asking, "What happened to change that?"

"He avoided me all d-day after that. And- and th-then I caught him chatting with Moonracer. Prattling blithely. I- I- got furious and s-said mean things – I ov-v-ver-r-reacted. I shouldn-n-n't have ever s-said what I d-did."

Ironhide rubbed her back for a few moments, hoping she would calm down a little bit. She didn't. "Did he say anything?" he asked after a while.

"No. 'E just stared. Moonracer stared, too." She put her head up and wiped her optics.

"Do you really hate Bee?"

She shook her head. "No. I hate what I did to him."

Ironhide nodded his understanding. Then he sighed, sorrowful that he would have to explain Bumblebee's actions, knowing that it would make her deplore her own reactions even more. How much he wished his younglings didn't have to suffer so.

"Auri… there is something you need to know about Bumblebee's past," he said softly. She looked up, meeting his optics.

He looked away. "Bumblebee encountered Megatron one time… And…" a sharp pain stabbed through his spark as he remembered in vivid detail. He willed the processor images from that day into a locked-down memory bank. "Bumblebee came away badly damaged. His vocal processors…" he shook his head. "The damage they sustained was too much. He can hardly speak. He uses the intercom a whole lot. And he plays back lines from movies, songs, or other such audio when he wants to communicate out loud…" That was all she needed to know; further details would only hurt more. He wished he could have said less.

He held her gently as she cried on his shoulder. He felt her pain in his spark.

"Oh… my poor little one," he rocked her gently. "My poor, sweet, little one."

::Ironhide.:: Chromia sent over the intercom,

::Yes, My-Femme.:: Ironhide.

::Did you catch up with her?::

::Yes… She told me what happened.::

::Bee told me his side, poor mech-ling. Did you explain things to Auri?::

::Yeah.:: his tone over the comm. was heavy. ::She's crying. Well, she started crying when she said she'd been mean. Now she's crying like it's the end of the world.::

::Our poor little femme-ling. Bee feels horrible about the whole thing, too.::

::Poor little Bots…::

::Bee wants to apologize if she'll see him.::

::Okay. I'll bring her.::

::Chromia… out.::

Ironhide nudged the damp little face on his shoulder with his finger. "Hey," he whispered. "It's gonna be alright. Bee understands." But this brought more tears. "Oh… Auri." He rubbed her back some more. "Bee wants to see you. Let's go on back, okay?"

She nodded reluctantly.

"Okay." He said, picking her up as he rose.

OoOOooOooOOoO

Bumblebee was sitting on a stool, his back to the table, with his elbows on his knee joints and his chin on his hands. His door-wings were drooping very low. Chromia had been trying to comfort him, but she slipped away as the door slid open and Ironhide came in carrying the little femme.

Bee ducked his head. He was never going to play that deceptive kind of game again!

Light little footsteps came running over, "Bee, Bumblebee, I'm so sorry." Auri's voice was sweet and soft. He tilted his head up to meet her optics. She'd been crying. And it was his fault. He ducked his head, feeling more awful. "Y-you… will you forgive me, p-please…?" Auri asked hopefully.

"It was my fault," he said with his own voice, speaking softly in hopes of not overloading the weak system. He put his head up. "I should have been completely honest."

"I was mean, though."

"I forgave you."

"Aw…!" she pressed her hands over her optics.

"You forgive yourself now." He whispered. She kept her head down, and he slipped off the stool to touch her shoulder, "Come on, be nice to my new friend."

She looked up at him and half-smiled, "You still want to be friends?"

He nodded. "'_Cheer up and dry your damp eyes,'"_ the light synthpop music was positive and encouraging.

She brushed her hand over her optics and face and then smiled at him.

"And I apologize for… w=_-*…"_ he pressed his palm against his forehead in frustration as his vocal system quit. He used Linkin Park, "'_What I've done!'_" and then Basshunter, "_"I'm sorry for everything,'_"

"It's okay." Auri said, rubbing his arm. "I forgive you completely. Let's forget about it, okay? And just be friends."

He nodded. "'Y_eah, yeah, yeah! We could have a lotta fun!'_"

She grinned. "Yeah! –but I hope you get into less trouble than the twins do."

Bee nodded his head with a smile. "_'Playin' so cool; obeyin' every rule!'_"

"Yes, he's an excellent Bot," Ironhide said. "I was his guardian."

Auri giggled. "Really, 'Bee?"

Bee nodded.

"He's my guardian, now." Auri said. "Now we have even more to talk about." She said, giving Bee a conspiratorial wink.

"'_You better watch out!_'" Bee warned merrily, making Ironhide chuckle. Chromia came over, seeing that the crisis was over.

The four Bots refueled on Energon slowly, conversing as they sat around the table.

"Remember when I told you about the little sparkling who threw a tantrum?" Ironhide asked Auri. Bee snapped his head up and buzzed in horror.

"I remember." Auri said, nodding.

"'Noooooo!'" Bee protested.

He pointed to Bee, "He grew up nicely."

"'Tattle-tale!'" Bee exclaimed, clapping a hand over his optics.

"Oh, but he said very nice things about you, too!" Auri encouraged.

Auri was especially gentle to Bee throughout the evening, but Bee was determined to make her laugh and smile. Before he left Ironhide and Chromia's quarters that evening, he made sure that he had made Auri laugh and smile as much as he had made her cry.

After the door slid shut behind him, he sighed with contentment. He nodded to himself before dropping into car mode and driving off. He had really bungled up that morning, but everything was fine now. How nice little Auri was! So, she wasn't his sister, but he was certain they would be great friends. Oh, yes! He was happy.

* * *

Okay, works cited list...

"Oh, not good." Ewan McGregor, playing Obi Wan Kenobi in _Star Wars, Episode II, Attack of the Clones_.

"_Spectacular, spectacular" _- From the theme song for 'Spectacular Spiderman' TV show.

"_Cheer up and dry your damp eyes,"_ From the song "Rainbow Veins" by Owl City.

"_What I've done!_" Linkin Park, the hardcore TF fans know… XD

"_I'm sorry for everything,_" –a line from the song "Don't Walk Away" done by the awesome Swedish artist, 'Basshunter.'

"Y_eah, yeah, yeah! We could have a lotta fu-un!_" –Eh, Haley Mills and Haley Mills sang this in _The Parent Trap_.

"_Playin' so cool; obeyin' every rule!_" –from the song "Footloose" from the movie _Footloose._

"_You better watch out!_" _You better not pout! _…and so on, everybody knows that song. :P


	30. Chapter 30, Moves

AHHHH! I forgot something!

I kept thinking that I was forgetting something, and then I finally remembered what it was!

I forgot to tell everybody that Auri has a part in Ardikani4 's story called "In The Past."

Sorry, Ardikani4! It slipped my mind somehow. (Actually, it was the twins fault. I'll blame the twins.)

So, go check out "In The Past" by Ardikani4. -Especially if you want to see some awesome Autobot VS Decepticon action! -And Con VS Con action, too! It's got a really cool Barricade in it.

* * *

Chapter 30

**Moves**

"Sunny, my dear twin, we have been stood up."

Sunny gave his brother a long-suffering look. "Sideswipe. We would have had to have been in a relationship _first_ and meeting somebody first in order to be stood up. And we weren't."

"Oh, well in a manner of speaking then." Sides said, sitting down on the curb beside Sunny. "Auri's hardly been around us for two days. Bumblebee has been monopolizing her."

"'Monopolizing'! Prowl's ghastly vocabulary is rubbing off on you!"

"Eh, the word fits." Sides said, shrugging. "Anyway, we don't see her much except for in the office now, and we can't even talk or have fun in the office."

"Yeah…"

"I guess it's not Bumblebee's fault entirely… I mean, Ironhide and Chromia have been spending extra time with her since they were gone those other two days. Oh, and Mirage has to chat with her for half-an-hour, and she likes it! I mean, the Blue Snob? Why chat with the Blue Snob when she could have a riotous good time with us?"

"It was fun watching _Star Trek'09_ with them…" Sunny ventured.

"It would have been _funner_ to watch _Ironman_."

"Oh, dude yeah! And then we could have watched the sequel."

"Uh-huh! See?"

"Yeah."

The twins lapsed into meditative silence, wondering what they could do to get Auri back from her guardians and other friends.

They were still deep in thought when Bumblebee and Auri came walking up the street.

"Well, look who's coming." Sides said. Sunny looked up and watched the two small winged bots approach.

"'Why so serious?'" Bumblebee asked, using the Joker's line from _The Dark Knight_.

"We were thinking." Sides said.

Bee's next quip came from 'The Dukes of Hazard' TV show and had a sarcastic Southern drawl. "'Oh, so that's what I smelled burning.'" Bee grinned at Auri as she giggled.

"Great. Now he's mocking us for her amusement." Sunny made an exasperated motion with his hands.

"Aw, don't be unhappy twins!" Auri cooed sympathetically, "We were just coming to see you because I hadn't gotten to see you very much at all."

"Really?" the twins revived and hopped up.

Auri nodded.

"Whoop!" Sunny skated around in a circle, and Sides asked, "What are we gonna do?"

"'_I've got fastest set wheels in town,_'" Bee played a line from one of the Beach Boys' songs.

"We could go racing!" Auri said, her optics twinkling at Bee.

"'R_hythm is a dancer…!'"_

"Or dancing?" Auri asked. Bee nodded. Auri looked surprised. She had thought that she was the only one who danced around here.

"Ooooh!" Sunny said. "I haven't danced in a long time!"

"Yeah! We should go dance." Sides exclaimed.

Bee buzzed in approval and nodded his head.

"We totally should," Sunny said, bouncing a little,

"That would be fun!" Auri exclaimed, "I love to dance!"

The twins grinned at each other. This would be fun!

"We'll have to make a playlist first." Sunny said with anticipation. "Yeah! And we'll have to include some of your favorite songs, Aurilaze."

Auri looked very happy. "I like-" she broke off, frowning, and listened. The young mechs fell silent and became still.

They could hear a siren howling.

"-!" It was coming closer.

"That sounds like ol' Ratchet." Sides said, frowning. "I wonder what's going on…"

The four bots stood uncertainly and looked around.

They heard tires squeal as Ratchet rounded a corner and came into view. He came charging up the street, his siren still screaming. "-!"

Chromia swerved around the corner a couple seconds later, her engine revving as she increased her speed, narrowing the distance between herself and the Emergency Vehicle.

Ratchet barreled past them, lights flashing, siren wailing. Then Chromia streaked by; they could hear her snarling.

"Whoops. I think he musta made her a little bit mad." Sunny said, smirking.

Auri shot away in police-car mode, clicking on her siren. "Rrreei-OH- Rrreei-OH-Rrreei-OH- Rrreei-OH-Rrreei-OH-!" it screamed as she flew down the street in her black, white, and grey paint-scheme.

She got on the intercom, opening it to the twins, Bee and Ratchet.

:: Ratchet, keep a straight course. Twins, go up the parallel roads, one of you on either side, and cut Chromia off at the next possible intersection! Bee, follow me.::

::You stay out of this youngling.:: Ratchet replied.

::No, sir. As an officer of the law it is my duty to halt this action.::

::Auri! I said NO!::

::In the name of the law, I pull office. You will comply, or you will face prosecution from PROWL.::

::Okay, okay. I'll keep a straight course.:: Ratchet was going to bust Prowl's behind next time he got his hands on him. The nerve of him teaching Auri to order him around and pull office like this!

In a couple moments, the twins shot out from opposite directions at the intersection, one from the left, one from the right. Ratchet got past. Chromia swerved and collided with Sunny, gashing his side paint before she came to a halt. Sunny let out a terrible shriek. Chromia transformed quickly, as did the twins.

"Stand down." Auri ordered. She had transformed and was standing with her feet braced apart and a shiny new stun-gun in her hand. Bee was beside her.

Chromia smiled at her femme-ling and swept her optics over the twins and Bee. "Calm down younglings," she said, chuckling. "Take it easy." She patted Sides on the back.

Ratchet was waiting not too far away. He had transformed and was watching them cautiously.

"You can put the gun away, bright spark," Chromia said to Auri, "I'm not Ironhide, y'know." She added with a wink.

Auri hesitated then slipped her gun back in its place. "What were you doing?' She asked.

"Not much," Chromia said, "Just givin' the medic a run. You understand wanting to do that, don't yah?" She asked Sunny, gently taking him by the shoulder to check his arm.

"'_I get a notion from the look in your eyes,'_" Bee played, frowning. He had a bad feeling about Chromia's easy actions.

Auri opened her mouth, but she didn't get a chance to speak. Chromia shoved Sunny into Sides and bolted, jumping and slamming into Ratchet before he could take three steps.

The medic and femme both crashed down onto the pavement, rolling over twice before Chromia jumped up.

"Oooooh-uh…!" Auri was very upset. She started toward the fight, but Bee caught her by the wing. She whimpered as he held her back.

Bee patted her shoulder sympathetically, letting her know that he understood. Sunny and Sides rolled up, looking haggard.

"Mech, what a femme." Sunny gasped. Sides winced as Chromia kicked Ratchet for the third time.

Ratchet was doing his best to guard himself without hurting Chromia. Hurting her, he knew, would only make her fiercer. She was already over-wired as it was. Crazy Chromia! He didn't need her double defensive.

The younglings stood, watching, unable to stop the fight. Bee turned Auri gently around so she wouldn't watch.

They heard sirens coming again.

"Rei-O- Rei-O-Rei-O- Rei-O-Rei-O-!" they screamed.

Ironhide swerved into view with a black and white patrol car right behind him.

"Prowl," Sunny gave a sigh of relief.

Ironhide and Prowl came screeching to a halt and transformed. Ironhide transformed more swiftly and grabbed Chromia, jerking her forcibly off the medic.

She gave a screech a rage and slammed her fist into Ironhide's midsection. He grabbed her wrist.

"No, you don't," He growled. She kicked him viciously in the leg and bit down hard his fingers. Ironhide dropped her; then he grabbed her again, getting a better hold on her, wrapping his arms tightly around her as he handcuffed her. "You do that again, you'll regret it."

She thrashed twice then settled for glaring.

Ratchet rolled over and sat up.

"Awwww!" Auri exclaimed, "Poor Ratchet!" she ran over to him to run her scanner over his shoulder where Chromia had landed a particularly strong kick. "Awww…!" she put an arm around his neck and looked at Chromia. "For shame, Chromia," she said, pouting, "Picking on poor ol' Ratchet after he's been so nice and looked after me while you were gone."

Prowl twitched his wings slightly.

"Poor ol' Ratchet?" Chromia snarled. "I'll 'poor ol Ratchet' him-!"

"No, you won't." Ironhide said calmly. She glared at him.

Ratchet gently moved Auri aside, motioned Sides away as the young mech offered him a hand up, and got up unaided.

"You alright, Ratchet?" Ironhide asked him.

"I'm fine." Ratchet said, rubbing his shoulder. "I just thought that you said that you were going calm her down after you told her about what happened while you two were gone."

"I did try." Ironhide said, tucking his chin. "Sorry."

"Oh, go on. I'm fine." Ratchet motioned him away.

"Alright." Ironhide nodded. He turned and started to leave, intending to lead Chromia by the handcuffs.

"Ironhide, Ironhide," Chromia pulled back on the cuffs,

He paused and looked at her.

"I'll be good." She said earnestly.

"You bet your after-plating you'll be good." He said, "Come on,"

She planted her feet. He stopped.

"Don't make a scene, femme." He warned. She reconsidered things then sighed and moved towards him submissively. He released his hold on the handcuffs and put his hand on her shoulder gently. "Come on." He said, and they left.

Auri watched, concerned filling her optics. She had never seen them behave like this.

Prowl touched her shoulder with one finger to get her attention. "Do not fret." He said when she turned. "He is merely going to give her a lecture, and she is not fond of lectures."

Auri looked anxiously up at him; he nodded. "They are not acting like spark-mates right now because he is acting in his role of commanding officer and she in her role of subordinate." He explained. "But, it will not hurt their relationship as spark-mates." he reassured her.

"They will make out?" Auri asked innocently.

"Up!" Prowl's door-wings twitched violently. "They will make _**up**_."

"OH!" Auri gasped, her facing heating up as she realized what she had said. "Make up! Pardon me, please."

Prowl, though rather discomfited, nodded.

Auri looked over at her other friends. Ratchet was inspecting the gashes that Sunny had sustained when Chromia had collided with him. Sides was rolling back and forth uncomfortably. Bee was watching Ratchet.

"Aurion," Prowl said; he'd recovered.

She turned her attention back to her commanding officer.

"Yes, sir?"

"Walk with me."

"Yes, sir," She replied. "Mech-lings," she called, "I'm going with Prowl. I'll meet you at the lounge later."

"Okay," Sides answered for all of them.

Auri looked to Prowl. He turned and started to walk back to the office. She fell in step to his right, but stayed just a little behind him.

Prowl glanced over his shoulder at her then motioned for her to walk beside him. She moved forward.

"Tell me what happened." He said.

She told him that she had been talking with Bee and the twins when Ratchet had come up the road. She told him what she'd told the other bots to do; she told him everything that had happened.

Then she fell silent.

Prowl was quiet for a moment. Then he spoke. "Your quick thinking was good." He said, "As was your plan."

She half-smiled, knowing that she hadn't been entirely successful.

"You know that you made a mistake." He said, "Do you know what that mistake was?" he asked gently.

She hung her head, but she quickly brought her chin back up as she remembered that he didn't want that.

"I put my stun-gun away when Chromia told me to." She said, peeking at him out of the corner of her optics to see his reaction.

He nodded. "Yes. Never put the gun away when someone you have apprehended tells you to. Even if he or she is your guardian."

"Yes, commander." She answered softly. "I am sorry."

"It is alright." Prowl told her, "It was something you needed to learn anyway; it is better that you learned it as you did today than later in a more dangerous fashion."

"Poor Ratchet, though," Auri said.

"He sustained only few bruises; it is not much, and he will heal quickly."

"You know, that sounds really cold." She told him.

He looked down at her. "I do not mean to be uncaring.

"I know." She said earnestly. "I am just pointing it out. Your logic just makes you seem quite cold to the other bots sometimes, and-"

"I am well aware of that." He said. "It is not a topic for discussion between us."

"Yes, sir."

"I merely wished to commend you for your quick thinking and make sure that you knew what mistake you made."

"Thank-you."

"I also wished to point out that you still could have used your stun-gun on Chromia. True, you would have knocked Ratchet out, but he would have been less damaged."

"Oh…" she lowered her head a little. She could have done that. "Now I know." She told herself aloud.

"I doubt you will soon forget." Prowl added; his tone was almost encouraging.

She shook her head. "I will not."

"You have done well today, Aurion." He said. He paused. "That will be all." He told her. "Enjoy your time with your friends."

"Thank-you." She said. She stopped, and he went on without her. Then she headed to the lounge in car mode.

OoOOooOooOOoO

The big, red, six-wheeled Hummer that she pulled over was another Autobot, but he stayed in car mode even as she transformed. He'd had loud music streaming from a big speaker system, the lower tones booming through hidden woofers, but he'd turned it off when she'd stopped him.

She walked over beside him, noting the strange tires and the hubcaps that still spun although he was stationary. "Transform, please." She requested as she took out her data-pad. He was getting a ticket for speeding. And she was going to ask Prowl about the volume restrictions on music later.

He transformed, and Auri stepped back, tilting her head back to look up at him. He was very, very, very big. Maybe she hadn't really wanted him to transform.

"Cyber-cat got yore voc-processor, li'l femme?" he asked amiably, smiling down at her.

"No, sir." She replied politely. "What is your designation?"

"Mah designation? Why, it's Blaster, o' course." He said, grinning.

"Blaster," she tapped her data-pad. "Were you aware that you were exceeding the speed limit in excess of ten miles per hour?"

"Ah… I'm afraid I was." He admitted, shaking his head.

"You are aware that that is not allowed?"

"I shore am, li'l femme. I know mah wrongs, and I know mah rights. Would you jus' ticket me, please; I've got somewhere I gotta be."

Auri was of a mind to detain him for trying to rush her, but she decided against it. She ticketed him and let him go.

He transformed and drove off. Then she transformed and drove off.

She stopped behind him at a stop sign.

"You tailin' me, li'l femme?" the mech asked curiously.

"No, sir. I'm heading to the lounge."

"Gotchya." He said, "See yah." He turned and went off.

Auri went straight and went on and came to the lounge.

"Hi, Bee! Hi, twins!" she greeted her friends. They grinned at her from a couch and waved her over.

"We've almost have our playlist complete." Sunny told her, happily. "You got some songs to add?"

"Ah, we'll go with what you have." She said, plopping down beside Bee.

"Hey, can you lose the _monochromatic_ paint-scheme there?" Sides asked, "It makes us edgy."

She giggled at him and morphed her colors back to pink with yellow and orange flame detailing.

In a few minutes, the twins were content with the playlist and went over to the computer. Sides lined up the songs while Sunny made sure the huge stereo set was ready to go.

"And," Sides said, "Three. Two. One. DANCE!"

The music came on loud and energetic. The twins went into motion immediately. Bee was shyer about dancing at first, but then he warmed up.

Auri felt self-conscious as she started to move, but noting the mechs' ease and carefree manners, she relaxed and got in the groove.

Bee grinned at her and mimicked her motions; she giggled and danced with him, danced with him without touching, that is.

The first fabulous song ended, and the next song started up. They danced and danced, happy and free.

After about the sixth song, somebody near the door clapped his hands. "Nice goin' there!" It was Blaster, the mech Auri had ticketed.

"HEY! Blaster-mech!" Sides whooped as the big mech came over. Sunny bounced. "Whatchya been up to?" Sunny asked.

"Aw, just getting' mahself pulled o'r and ticketed by a li'l femme patrol car 'cause I was hurryin' to see you rascals." He said, giving the twins each a friendly slap on the back.

Sunny and Sides exchanged glanced. "You don't say."

"Yeah, a sharp li'l bot, 'bout as ornery 'n' polite as Prowl himself, only a shore sight smaller. Thought her head would fall off tiltin' back to look at me." He added, chuckling.

"Ah." The twins darted a look at Auri to see how she was taking this. She appeared to quite amused, her optics sparkling playfully.

"How's li'l Bee-bot doing?" Blaster asked.

"'_Doin' alright,'_" Bee replied with a lazy country song.

"Good to hear it. And who's this? Don't tell me we got _two_ new femmes in mah absence. If you do, I'll jus' have to leave mo'e often."

Auri giggled as she stepped forward. "I'm Aurion Blaze." She said, "I'm Ironhide and Chromia's ward. And," she morphed back into mono-tones, "I work for Prowl." She grinned as astonishment covered the big mech's face.

"Well! Ain't I put my big ol' feet in my mouth today!" he exclaimed. "I apologize if I offended you when I was talkin' back there."

"Oh, it's fine; I was in no way offended." Auri said sincerely as she brought her bright colors back. She was secretly very pleased that he's said she was as polite and as ornery as Prowl.

"Dude! We talked and missed half the song of Y.M.C.A.!" Sides exclaimed.

"Now I like that song." Blaster declared, "Restart it, Swiper. We're gonna do it right."

Sides restarted the song.

_Young man, there's no need to feel down. _

_I said, young man, pick yourself off the ground. _

The bots danced happily in a circle, and Bee hopped into the middle to show off his dance- moves.

_I said, young man, 'cause you're in a new town _

_There's no need to be unhappy. _

Sides took a turn in the center when Bee finished. Auri laughed, amused by this new way of dancing.

_Young man, there's a place you can go. _

_I said, young man, when you're short on your dough. _

Then Sunny went in to impress everybody as Sides slid out with a flourish.

_You can stay there, and I'm sure you will find _

_Many ways to have a good time._

Next came the chorus:

_It's fun to stay at the Y-M-C-A!_

The mechs yelled, "N-E-S-T!" over 'Y-M-C-A.'

_It's fun to stay at the_N-E-S-T!

_They have everything for you _MECH _to enjoy, _

_You can hang out with all the _BOTS_ ..._

_It's fun to stay at the _N-E-S-T_. _

_It's fun to stay at the _N-E-S-T_._

Auri laughed happily.

Blaster danced in the middle of the circle; everybody had to scoot back for him to have room.

"Li'l Auri-'laze's next," Blaster said as he moon-walked back to his place in the circle.

Auri was hesitant, but Sunny gave her a friendly shove.

She started a short version of one of her favorite dance routines, flitting her wings to the music as she pranced, and swung up her arms.

"WHOA!" Ironhide yelled.

Auri stopped in surprise. The twins froze, and Bee became still, as did Blaster. The whole room was still except for the blaring music. Bee scuttled over and gave the irreverent computer a poke, silencing it.

The Weapon's Specialist looked half upset. Chromia, beside him, had a watchful optic on his face.

"Wha's wrong, 'Hide ol' bot?" Blaster asked.

"Wrong?" Ironhide said, "I won't have Auri making a sight of herself around a bunch of mechs."

"I wasn't making a sight of myself…" Auri said, frowning anxiously.

"It was just Y.M.C.A." Sunny said, "Everybody dances in the middle at least once; she wasn't being… erm… uh… you know."

"Yeah, 'Hide," Blaster said, "You seen the dance befo'e."

Ironhide looked at Auri. Of course she wouldn't make a sight of herself. She knew how to behave. He smiled at her. "Alright." He said, "Sorry for jumping all over you bots."

"It's Oh-kay." Blaster said, "If I had a li'l one like that, I'd act over-wired, too." He smacked Ironhide on the shoulder.

Ironhide smiled sheepishly. "Nice to see you again, by the way."

"Same here." Blaster said, "You still hangin' around that wild femme?" he asked, winking at Chromia. She grinned back at him.

"I sure am." Ironhide said happily.

"You still gettin' whupped for doin' it?"

Ironhide grinned a silly grin. "Now why would you ask a crazy question like that?" he asked.

Blaster chuckled.

"Hey, I need to talk to the younglings alone for a couple minutes." Chromia said, giving Ironhide a meaningful look.

"Okay," Ironhide said, "Come away, Blaster."

"Shore." Blaster said, "And you can tell me all 'bout what I've missed while I've been gone."

The two big mechs went over to the other side of the room. Chromia watched them, and then she turned back to the young ones.

"I'm sorry for my actions towards you bots last hour." She said softly, "I apologize for tricking you, Auri, bright-spark. That was really low."

"It's alright." Auri said, freely forgiving her. She hugged her femme guardian lovingly and patted her back. "Prowl said it was better that I learn with you than with a more dangerous bot, anyway."

Chromia's optics sparkled in amusement, and half a smirk showed on her face. "Prowl," she chuckled before she became serious again.

"I apologize to you, twins, for the trouble I caused you, especially you, Suns." She said, leaving Auri to slip an arm around Sunny.

"Aw, it's okay." Sunny said, dropping his head.

"Is your car-side okay?" She asked.

"Yeah. It's just a little bruised, and the paint," he winced, "Will be alright soon."

"Good." Chromia looked at Bee, "Sorry, little mech, for putting your friends through such stuff."

Bee went over and hugged Chromia, signing that it was alright.

"I love you bots, all four of you." Chromia said, ducking her head.

The twins tried to shrug it off, but Auri said softly, "I love you, too. We all do."

Bee nodded. He crossed his wrists in front of his chest then pointed at Chromia before bringing his left and right fore-fingers together to sign, "_Love you, too." _

"Aw, Bee…" Chromia hugged him gently. Then she smiled. "Are we all fine now?"

The younger bots nodded.

"Alright." Chromia said. Then she glanced back over at Ironhide and Blaster "Hey, tanks!" she called, "Come back, I wanna dance."

Ironhide and Blaster came back.

"I thought we had decided to go out to the challenge course." Ironhide said, surprised.

"True," said Chromia, "But..." She gently swayed like a belly-dancer as she leaned backwards and ran finger along his jaw, "I think you'd like it better if we stayed and danced." She cooed, not breaking optic-contact with him.

"We're not dancing that way!" Sunny yelped as he and Sides spun around and stared at the wall.

Bee shook his head; he seen them at this before.

"Hmm," Ironhide's optics fairly ate up Chromia, "I think I _would_ like it better if we stayed and danced."

"We're NOT DANCING THAT WAY!" Sides' voice ran shrill.

Ironhide grinned and leaned forward a little.

"SMOOCH PATROL!" Auri yelled. She'd been watching them. Ironhide didn't get to make his move.

Blaster chuckled. "Tough luck, mech. Tone in down, 'Mia. This is a family dance."

Chromia stilled her movements.

"Okay," Auri told the twins. "You can look now."

The two young mechs spun back around, looking slightly disgruntled.

"Hit 'play' and jack it up, Swiper." Blaster said with a grin. The twins lost their dark looks, and Sides hit 'play' and jacked it up.

They started Y.M.C.A. over again, and started the dancing in the middle thing over again. Ironhide refused to dance in the middle, and Chromia took his turn for him, much to his delight. She kept it decent, though. Auri got to do her dance. Blaster had a bigger circle to dance in. Sunny and Sides showed off even more, and Bee had fun doing the robot dance.

Then next song came on, and they kept dancing. Some other bots came in and joined the dance. Mirage showed up suddenly on the dance floor, and they made him dance alone for show.

It was nice, breaking away from the usual routines. It was good to dance in a group.

Auri looked around at her friends. It was definitely more fun to dance with them than to dance alone.

Yes, it was very good here.

* * *

Yeah, I made Blaster to be a Hummer h6. Him being a little radio and transforming into a huge bot was one of the things that I never got used to in the G1 series.

'_I've got the fastest set of wheel in town'… _"Little Deuce Coupe," by the Beach Boys

"Rhythm is A Dancer," by Snap!

'_I get a notion from the look in your eyes' …_"Listen to Your Heart," by D.H.T.

'_Doin' alright'_… "When the Sun Goes Down," by Kenny Chesney

"Y.M.C.A.," by the Village People


	31. Chapter 31, Rock 'N' Roll

Sorry for the delay in updating! I had a WHOLE lot of homework this week! O_O And next week looks pretty heavy, too, so I may not get to post much. :/ I'll try, though; we'll see.

And I was stuck on what to do for this chapter, but then The Silent Hunter mentioned ol' Ratchet and Prowl, and I had it. Thank-you for the idea! XD

* * *

Chapter 31

**Rock 'N' Roll**

Prowl frowned as he sorted several new reports that had come in. He was feeling a little low on Energon, and he didn't have any left in his office stash. He had a sneaking suspicion that the twins had drunk it, but he didn't have any actual proof.

This meant that he would have to go to the Pub. That was a long walk and would detract much time from his work.

The lounge was closer, and there was always an ample supply of Energon there.

He supposed that he could go to the lounge.

He rarely went to the lounge.

The last time he'd gone to the lounge it had been to arrest Sunny and Sides for some prank.

The time before that, he'd gone there to break up a fight between Hot-Rod and Springer.

The time before that, he'd been called in to break up a fight between Firestar and Inferno, but by the time he'd gotten there, the bonded pair had already made up and were on to making _out_.

He'd left quickly.

And the time before that, he'd had to tackle Ratchet and twist his arm to keep him from throwing a wrench at Ultra Magnus. Had Ratchet really thought that throwing a wrench a a much bigger mech would solve anything?

Prowl wasn't sure and didn't wish to consider it further.

And the time before that, he'd gone there on his day off and dropped into recharge on a couch. When he'd come out of recharge, he found that he was the victim of a prank.

The time before that…

He shook his head. It was enough to say that he did not like going to the lounge. Bad things always happened there.

He slipped out of the office and drove to the lounge. It was early evening, and the streets were rather quiet. He liked it when the streets were quiet, and they usually were at this time, but this time they were unusually quiet.

He wondered about this a little, but as he drew near to the lounge, he realized why: the bots were partying. Loud music came vibrating from the doorways and windows.

He resisted the urge to cover his face. Why, why did they have to be partying?

He went to the door and peeked in. A large group of bots had gathered; some were talking, others were drinking Energon, but most of them were gathered around the dance floor.

And most of them were moving to the heavy beat of the music, but almost none were actually dancing; they were watching Ironhide and Chromia.

Ironhide and Chromia were dancing in the center of the floor, Chromia whirling and swaying to the beat of the music around in a wide arch around Ironhide while Ironhide moved more in relation to the words and rhythm of the melody, making motions with his hands and moving in various, different ways.

Showoffs, Prowl thought. They had won more than their fair share of prizes at dance contests.

He decided that he would go through the side door to get to the Energon. The Energon was even out already, nicely stacked on a couple tables.

Nodding to himself, Prowl went around to the side of the building and slipped in the door there. The couches had been pushed back to make more room for dancing; they were pushed all the way against the tables, with a space between the tables and the wall for walking.

No-one was back there at the moment. He went over cautiously, took a cube, and then he crouched down so nobody would see him. It would be dreadful if anyone caught him here.

He took a huge gulp of Energon, draining a quarter of a cube, and then he choked as he realized that it was high-grade. He coughed and wiped his mouth on the back of his hand. He gazed down at the cube. He liked high-grade as much as the next mech did, but it wasn't what he wanted now, and it wasn't what his system needed.

He started to rise, but dropped down fast as he realized that someone was coming. He rolled under the table, backing up against the couch so as to not be seen. He scowled at the high-grade cube and gave it a shove, sending it sliding away along under the table. It stopped when it hit the leg. That was fine. It was far enough away from him.

The bot came dancing up lightly, humming to herself the song that had just ended. He suspected that it was Aurion, and when the little pink feet stopped directly across from his optics, he knew he was right.

He frowned. She was going to get high-grade if she took a cube from this table. Where were her guardians? She shouldn't even be at a party with such heavy music and high-grade anyway! If he'd been her guardian, he would have sent her home. Well, he wasn't her guardian.

She wasn't going to drink high-grade on his watch, anyway.

He took out a data-pad, and he lightly swatted her ankle with it just about the same time Chromia called, "Auri! Don't!"

Aurion hopped in surprise.

Prowl felt the couch shift at Chromia dropped onto in it.

"That's high-grade, bright-spark." She said, "It's not for you, my little one."

"Oh!" Aurion sounded astonished and surprised.

"Yeah." Chromia said. Prowl heard a fond smile in her tone as she went on. "It wouldn't have been good for you, not at your age. When you're a little more grown you may have some though, okay?"

"Okay. Anything you say, My-FemmeGuard'." Prowl heard the loving trust in Aurion's voice as she replied.

"Alright. 'Hide and I will take you to the bar at the pub when it's time, deal?"

"Deal." Said Aurion, and the couch creaked a little as Chromia leaned over the back of it to clasp hands with Aurion. "I'd better get back to Ironhide." Chromia said, "The plain stuff is over there, by the way." She added as she left.

Aurion dropped to her hands and knees, saw Prowl, and gave him a quizzical look.

"Prowl?" she asked.

"Prowl here." He said, no better answer coming to his processors.

"Um… what are you doing under a table?" she raised an optic ridge as she asked the question.

"Ah… well…" he wasn't good at lying anyway, and he couldn't think of any falsehoods at the moment, either. –At least, none that would be half believable. Besides, he would not lie to his subordinate. He rested his head on the floor in surrender. "My Energon stash at the office was don." He said, "Thus I came here to get some for the eve-ding, but I didn't wanna be seen so I ducked down… and then you came along so I went under thi' stable."

Aurion cocked her head at him, giving him an odd look. "You, uh, 'didn't wanna be seen'?" she asked.

"No, I kid not." He said, feeling slightly confused. He could usually down a couple cubes of high-grade before it adversely affected him. What was this with his speech getting slurred after just a quarter of a cube? There was a reason somewhere.

"Ah… are… you…? …over-energized…?" Aurion asked with the greatest hesitancy.

He wobbled his head in a 'no' motion. "Huh-uh. I gotta quarter of a coob of high-grade on a mostly empty thank." Did that come out right? He wasn't sure. Anyway, he meant to say that because he'd consumed some high-grade when his tank was mostly empty, the high-grade had gone straight to his systems. Any other time, it would have been diluted by regular, straight Energon and not caused a problem. The problem wouldn't have occurred until the high-grade to straight Energon ratio had shifted too much to the high-grade's side.

He drummed his fingers on the floor in mild aggravation as he tried to think.

Aurion straighten up quickly.

"Hey-hey-hey! Auri! You better not be getting Energon from this table, femmelette." That too-loud voice belong the Hot-Rod, Prowl realized.

"Oh, no, Rods! I wasn't getting any."

"Okey-dokey, then."

There was a pause.

"Rods, how much high-grade can a bot your size drink before he gets over-energized?" Aurion asked.

"My size? Oh, well, it depends, really. I mean, if my tank's pretty full, I can drink quite a bit, maybe three cubes, before I get -over-energized. On the other hand, if I don't have much straight Energon in the old system, the high-grade goes straight in and it's … happy time."

"Oh…!" Aurion sounded much enlightened.

"Don't you try it though."

"I won't, Rods. Chromia and I already talked about it."

"Well, okay. That'd stop a bot from doing anything. Well, other than talking with Ironhide about it, oh, mech." He chuckled, "Bee and I went out once, and Bee was a good little bot, but I came back quite buzzed." He paused in embarrassment at the pun before going on. "Anyway, uh, when we came back, 'Hide sure busted my tail-plating. And was I sick the next day! That high-grade clogged my systems up, ugh. Between the hang-over and the bruises on my –rump-, it was terrible."

"I'm sure it was…!"

"Yup, lesson learned. Don't learn it the hard way, Aurilaze."

"I won't." she said solemnly.

Hot-Rod finally went away after about three days, or a week, or half a year, and then Aurion dropped back down to the underworld.

"Prowl?"

"Wot?"

"Here." She scooted an Energon cube over to him. "It's straight Energon. I think it will make you feel better..."

Prowl shifted and took the cube. Gulp, gulp, gulp, down went the straight Energon.

Auri watched.

He lowered the cube. "Much better." He said. "Thank-you."

She nodded eagerly, smiling, glad to be of service to him.

He sipped a little more. Hot-Rod had unknowingly redeemed himself from half of his evils. Prowl reflected that for once Hot-Rod's talkativeness had brought about something good. Then he looked up to find Aurion still there. He gave her an inquiring look.

"Are you going to be alright?" she asked.

"I shall be quite fine." He replied, sounding much more like his usual self.

"Okay." She said. She opened her mouth to say more, but, instead, she darted under the next table, facing him.

Heavy footsteps were approaching. Auri covered her mouth as Optimus Prime's feet came into view. Prowl sincerely hoped she wouldn't give them away somehow. The little youngling was prone to giggling at the most inopportune times.

Optimus was heading past the high-grade cubes, but then he paused. Next he stooped to pick up the cube that Prowl had so hastily slid away, the one that was resting against the table-leg.

Prowl for once wish Prime wasn't so tidy and responsible.

Optimus's optics widened as they caught sight of Auri and Prowl lying under the tables, and his mouth flopped open a little. Then his optics flickered off as his system glitched out, and he fell with a thump on the floor, but as the music was blaring, and the bots were rather noisy in their dancing, no one heard it.

Aurion stared at the prostrate Prime with shock and horror. Prowl hid his optics.

"I really have to leave." Prowl said. "You get Ratchet surreptitiously, and I will go outside. Answer no questions, but tell Ratchet to bring Prime online and send him, Prime, out the side door."

"Yes, commander." Aurion said. Then she climbed out from underneath the table.

"Auri-'Laze, what are you up to?" Prowl flinched at the sound of Chromia's voice. It was not condemning or harsh or anything like that; on the contrary, it was concerned. But, it meant a delay in getting things explained to Prime.

"OP-!" Chromia started,

"Sh!" Auri hushed her femme guardian quickly. "Prime -he- he's fine, his systems just glitched when I startled him. Please don't draw attention, please?"

"I won't, I won't." Chromia said gently. "It's okay, bright-spark. I'll go get ol' Ratchet for you, and I'll never tell a bot."

"Thank-you."

Chromia left, and Aurion came back down.

"Chromia's going to get Ratchet for us."

"You just used 'Chromia' and 'Ratchet' in the same sentence…" he murmured, resting his forehead on the floor again.

Auri nodded.

"I should have gone to the pub." Prowl said dismally.

"It's alright," she said, reaching out and rubbing his shoulder. "It will all work out."

He didn't feel like coming up with a contradiction. He started to move.

"Don't go yet," Auri said, Ultra Magnus is too close to the door."

"I should have gone to the pub." He muttered.

"Poor Prowl," she said softly, rubbing his shoulder some more, "It'll be okay."

He let his door-wings relax a little and soaked up Auri's sympathy like a sponge for once instead of pushing it away.

"Okay." She said, giving him a pat. "It's clear. But, you'd better hurry."

He crawled out from beneath the table and transformed, keeping low. Then he bolted for the door in car-mode, bouncing on the jam, and then he was safely outside.

A sigh of relief escaped him. He was out and safe. Prime would listen calmly, and it would probably work out alright. He would have to restock his stash in the morning though, especially since a budget liaison was coming to harass him tomorrow.

Aurion slipped out and looked around while her optics adjusted to the dimness.

"Here," Prowl said quietly.

She came over and offered him another Energon cube.

"Thank-you," he said, feeling a little touched by the gesture. He took the cube and sipped the Energon steadily for a couple moments.

"Chromia cut in on Moonracer and got Ratchet," Aurion said, leaning on the wall. "And now Ratchet's bringing Prime back online. I asked him to tell Prime to come out here."

"Very good." Prowl said.

Aurion was quite for a moment, but then she giggled. "It's good thing that Prime saw us, and not Ironhide saw us." She said, well amused at the thought. "Can you imagine? He would have yelled, 'What are you two doing down there?' and everybody would have stopped and looked." She chuckled.

Prowl frowned at her. "Do not express such enjoyment at the prospect of another's suffering." He said darkly.

Aurion stifled her giggles, but she still thought it was funny.

Chromia came around the corner of the building, "Auri," she paused when she saw Prowl. "Hi, Prowlie. Prowl." She amended quickly.

"Good evening." He replied.

"What are you up to?" she asked, coming over to stand near him and Auri.

"I am waiting to speak with Prime." Prowl said.

"Ah." She nodded her head. She looked to Auri. "Were you having fun?" she asked.

"Oh, yes!" Auri replied happily. "I think group dancing is much more fun than dancing alone."

A tall shadow darkened the open doorway, and Optimus came outside.

"Alright, now, just what were you two doing under those tables?" he asked, a slight playful tone lightening the otherwise serious question.

"TWO!" Chromia yelped. "WHA-!-Mphf!" Optimus quickly put a hand over her mouth.

"I apologize; I didn't see you here, Chromia." Optimus said, carefully releasing her. "Sh."

She stood quietly and calmly, but Auri could sense that her femme-guardian was on the alert.

Optimus gave Chromia's shoulder a rub, and then he looked to Prowl.

"So, drugs, s-_stuff_, and rock 'n' roll, was it?" Optimus asked, his optics sparkling with amusement.

Prowl twitched his wings and gave Prime an unfriendly look.

"I am sorry, Prowl." Optimus said, ducking his head as his conscious kicked him.

"You are not. You are still laughing." Prowl retorted.

"Hmph! He's a bit touchy tonight." Chromia commented.

"That budget liaison is coming tomorrow, and today has not gone well for the past hour." Prowl said. "I need Energon and a good night's rest without being harassed."

"I think you need a day off." Optimus said.

"I do not." Prowl replied. "I cannot, anyway. The budget liaison is coming."

Optimus feigned surrender, but he made a note to give Prowl a day off as soon as the liaison left. "Alright, alright. Tell me what was going on."

Prowl sent a watchful look in Chromia's direction, but she seemed calm enough. She wanted to know what was going on, as well, anyway, concerned for her little Aurion.

"I needed some Energon, and the lounge was closer than the Pub." Prowl started to explain. "I saw that there was a party taking place, so I went in the side door to get some Energon."

Optimus nodded. Chromia smiled, knowing Prowl's aversion to parties.

"I ducked down so nobody would see me. And I ducked under the table when Aurion came by."

Chromia chuckled at the mental image. Prime and Prowl both gave her silencing looks, but Auri smiled in return.

"She found me out though," Prowl continued, "And she had to ask questions. She then ducked under the other table when you came, Prime, so that she wouldn't give me away, but then you saw us when you stooped to pick up that cube."

"I see." Said Optimus.

"And, ah, that's when your system glitched out?" Chromia asked him.

Optimus nodded.

"That is all." Prowl said. He looked to Chromia, "Aurion was in no way behaving badly." He told her.

Chromia nodded. "I see that." She said. Then she chuckled, "And if she had, you would have stopped her."

"Indubitably." Prowl stated, glancing over at Auri to see her grin. She was always illogically delighted when he used it.

Elita stumbled out the door with Ironhide behind her, holding her by the upper arms.

"Optimus," Ironhide started.

"You were drinking half High-gade, Paxie," Elita informed him, giggling. "And I didn' know it," she giggled some more. "But I found doubt."

"She drank _my_ Energon?" Optimus asked, his optics widening. His Energon had been half high-grade and half plain.

"Apparently." Ironhide said, looking down at the femme who had fallen back on his chest.

"Oh, Elita…" Optimus groaned. She didn't have much of a tolerance for high-grade.

"Oh, great." Chromia said.

Elita giggled. ""Mia… 'Is one's your mech. Tha' one's mine."

"Yup." Chromia said, rubbing her head.

"I think we need to call it a night and go back to our quarters, 'Lita-Mine." Optimus said.

"Ooookay, swish mechs, 'Mia." Elita said. "I yikes mine better."

"I'm sure you do." Chromia said as Optimus gently took Elita from Ironhide.

"Shall we go?" Optimus asked kindly.

Elita nodded. "I don' feel so good denny 'ore…"

Optimus stooped and tenderly gathered his femme into his arms. "Good night, my friends. I wish you well." He said.

"We bid you good night." Ironhide replied. He looked down at Auri as Optimus left. "What are you thinking?" he asked, crouching to her height.

"I was thinking 'poor Elita.'" Auri said, moving over to hug him.

"Aw, Auri, she'll be alright." Chromia said gently.

"Hot-Rod said he was very sick the morning after he got over-energized." Auri said, looking concerned.

Both her guardians held back derisive snorts. "Ah," Ironhide said, "Hot-Rod, was extremely over-energized. Elita is not even close to what his condition was."

"Oh." Auri said, content. "Alright."

"Uh-huh." Ironhide said. He smiled at her. Then he looked over at Prowl. "What's going on, Prowl?"

"I just stopped by for Energon." Prowl said, raising the cube he was holding a little bit.

"I see." Ironhide said smiling. "Didn't want to be caught indoors at the party, huh?"

"No, I did not." Prowl affirmed.

"Uh-huh." Ironhide nodded. He knew how Prowl was. It was nicer out here than it was inside."Shall we go on and leave the party?" He asked Chromia.

Auri looked back at the doorway. She wanted to dance some more and hear the stories that were being told.

"Yeah-sure." Chromia said, smiling at Ironhide.

Ironhide straightened up. "Well, behave yourself, my little one, and don't stay up too late." He said to Auri.

Auri's expression brightened. "I get to stay?" she asked.

Ironhide nodded.

"Ironhide." Prowl protested.

"What." Ironhide said. "I trust her, and the number of mechs in there that I trust far, far outweighs the number of mechs I don't trust quite so much."

Prowl looked discontented.

"Do you want to play sparkling-watcher?" Ironhide asked for effect.

"I do not go where there is partying." Prowl replied, shifting his wings.

"Alright then." Ironhide said in a final tone. "So hush. It will be fine. Good night."

"Good night." Prowl said begrudgingly.

"Good night!" Auri hugged both guardians and then bounced back into the lounge.

Ironhide and Chromia slipped away, and Prowl headed back towards his office

Prowl looked around in the peaceful silence and picked up the data-pad that he'd been working on before he'd gone to the lounge.

He could sense a small, slight stirring in his dormant guardianship programming, and the guardian conscience nudged him. His logic system overrode it. He considered the two, leaning towards logic.

Ironhide was completely right about the mechs at the party. Aurion was fine.

But…

He could work in noisy places.

He took the data-pad and went back to the lounge. Slipping in the side door once again, he sat down with his back almost against the wall –door-wings prohibiting leaning back comfortably. He was mostly hidden, but he could see a large enough portion of the lounge.

He glanced up from his work from time to time to check on what was going on. Aurion was sitting and laughing at Sunny and Sides as they sat in a circle telling stories. Those twins looked out for her as brothers; he was pretty sure they wouldn't be telling anything they shouldn't.

"Whoa! Prowls? _You_? What are you doing here?" Hot-Rod laughed.

"Working." Prowl said.

"That's NOT what you do at a _party_, Prowls."

"I am not attending this party." Prowl said. "Go on and enjoy yourself."

This 'enjoy yourself' bit threw Hot-Rod off. "Have you been in the high-grade?"

"I had this much." Prowl said, holding his finger and thumb a little ways a part.

"_That_ much? Did you even taste it?" Hot-Rod plopped down on the floor across from Prowl, a grin on his face.

"I did, actually." Prowl replied. "It was quite good."

"Mech! So, you're here. You've had high-grade. Are you going to join the dancing?"

"No, I think not."

"Aw, come-on! Prowls, it'd be fabulous! I mean, remember that awesome party we had back on Cybertron right after graduation? You were **the** bot on the dance floor!"

"I do remember. We did have some good times then. And I treasure the memories. That was very long ago, though."

"Yeah…! Ages." Hot-Rod chuckled reminiscently. "Ah, well. I'll let you get back to your work." He was amazed that Prowl was in such a good mood. He wasn't going to push it. He rose.

"Thank-you." Prowl said, but it wasn't his impatient thank-you.

"Haha!" Hot-Rod swaggered away quite pleased.

Prowl checked on Aurion again. She had gotten Ratchet to dance with her. Ratchet liked to attend parties, but he didn't care that much for dancing unless it was with Moonracer. Prowl was impressed. He had a good little subordinate who could get anything done that she set her desire on, be it on the job or off. But then, Ratchet was a softy went it came to little bots gazing up at him.

Prowl worked steadily on his data-pad, getting much done, and eventually forgetting where he was.

_Singing, I love Rock 'n' Roll,_

_Put another dime in the jukebox, baby! _

_I love Rock 'n' Roll, _

_So come an' take your time an' dance with me!_

He moved his wings to the music ever so slightly.

He froze automatically when someone approached. He looked up and saw Aurion and Bumblebee.

"Good evening." He said.

"'_We're going to say good-night!_'" Bee informed him with a children's song.

"Very well. Good-night." Prowl said.

"Bee was going to walk me home because I don't like the dark very much," Aurion said, "But he has patrol duty."

Prowl checked the schedule on his data-pad. "Indeed, he does." He looked up again. "I will take the first half-hour for him."

"Thanks! –Thank-you, Prowl." Aurion bounced happily. Bumblebee made a grateful gesture.

Prowl watched the two youngest bots leave. Then he headed out on Bumblebee's patrol shift.

* * *

"I Love Rock 'N' Roll," by Joan Jett and the Blackhearts.


	32. Chapter 32, Tumbles, Pranks, and Tricks

I have a literature test tomorrow! Drama, Greek tragedy, Medieval morality play, _Hamlet_, _Sakuntala_… it's actually pretty cool. I like this class. The crazy thing about it is that it makes me want to write more! Yeah, nevermind the "plot bunnies"; I'm running from the plot-bots!

"Noooo! Plot-bots! Listen! I already have TWO stories that I'm posting and several others that I'm slowly writing! That's more than enough for right now. What, write something based on Epic Poetry? No. Absolutely n-… maybe... That sounds cool… Ooo, make a Transformers version of an old Greek tragedy…? Hmm… NO… gotta finish this first… yeah… I do… really…"

Anyway. Enough of that rambling nonsense. Jacqueline Walker, there's something in here for you. ;) It's not exactly like what you suggested, but you still inspired it. :) And my sister gave me inspiration, too, by sitting one of those spinning desk chairs…

* * *

Chapter 32

**Tumbles, Pranks, and Tricks**

Auri woke up in the morning, eager and ready for the new day. Slipping off the couch, she went and pushed a chair over to get some Energon. Usually Chromia or Ironhide were on hand to get it for her, but they had stayed up much later than she had, coming back sometime after she'd gone to bed.

She sat on the table and swung her feet, thinking about the coming liaison. Prowl had devoted several hours over the past two days to training, instructing, and readying her for dealing with and responding to the liaison. From all he'd said, she knew it was going to be challenging, but interesting.

She wanted to go over early. The liaison wasn't coming until a little later in the day; she wanted to go over last minute things with Prowl and help him with the extra things he would have to deal with, or to at least get a head-start on some other things.

She put away the empty cube and cautiously peeked in on her guardians. They were still not awake.

She went and got her data-pad then left, heading for Prowl's office.

She smiled happily as she walked down the street. Even after Prowl had told Ironhide he wasn't going to stay around the party and watch her, he had come back to do it. Sunny, Sides, and Hot-Rod had told her that she would NEVER get to do anything fun if Prowl decided to watch over her, but she was pleased to know that he knew of her existence beyond the office. He was too busy, anyway, to keep tabs on her as the other three mechs feared he would.

She morphed her paint-scheme into its monochromatic setting and went into the office. Prowl was not there, she realized, looking around. The computers were on, and the mail had been reordered, so it was clear that he'd come and then gone to do something.

Auri had no assignments for the day yet. She looked around, but there was nothing to clean up. Her optics settled on Prowl's chair. It was such a marvelous chair that rolled on wheels and that could spin around at its base. It had always fascinated her. Prowl rolled it a tiny bit occasionally, and he would turn it a little sometimes if he wanted to reach a drawer without moving much. But, he never spun it 360 degrees though. He never used it to its potential.

She had often eyed the chair in Prowl's absence, but she'd always had some task at time that she dared not leave. Now she had no task, no assignment, and Prowl was out.

Going over to the chair, she rolled it away from the deck. She paused. Then she climbed onto it, and, reaching out and shoving the desk, she sent the chair into a spin. It was slow.

That was slightly disappointing, but then, it was just the first try. She got down and moved the chair closer to the desk so she could push off it better.

The second try was much more satisfying. She grinned and then shoved off from the desk before the chair slowed. She did this again and again, and the chair picked up speed. Round and Round it went, spinning wonderfully. It was even better than she'd imaged. The motion made her a little giddy, and she giggled as she went around.

This was fun!

Prowl!

She stopped the chair quickly, grabbing the desk to halt it.

Prowl was standing just inside the door with that usual unreadable look on his face.

"Am I to suppose that this is your usual form of occupation in my absence?" He asked.

"Oh-no! No." She slipped down. "I never –uh!" she stumbled and tried to recover, but down she went, "clank" on the floor, face-down. "Oof."

"Apparently not." Said Prowl, raising an optic ridge.

Auri put her head up, a look of confusion on her face. She moved her legs a little bit to make sure they still worked. They did.

"You overloaded your balancing system." Prowl told her. He stepped over her and reclaimed his chair by sitting in it.

She rolled over and looked up at him. "I did?"

He nodded, picking up his data-pad and starting to type on his computer.

"By spinning around?" she asked.

"Logically." Type, type, type, hit 'send.'

She squirmed around a little bit, trying to figure out what she could and couldn't do with her body. "Mphf." She managed to sit up and leaned against the drawer on his desk. "I didn't know that spinning would do that." She stated with wonder as she slipped back down.

"If you are not used to the motion, it will."

"How long does this overload last?" she asked, lying on her side with her forehead on the floor.

"That I do not know." Prowl said. "Bumblebee, I recall, was wobbly all day after a similar incident, but he was a small sparkling."

"Oh…" she moaned.

"I took him to the park, and for some strange reason he derived amusement from twisting up the swing and then letting go. I had to carry him home."

She giggled at the mental image, but she sighed at her predicament. Struggling, she dragged herself onto all fours. This was very aggravating, as well as frustrating. She wasn't happy about it either.

"Prowl…" The commander paused and turned to look down at the youngling as she sounded a little fussy.

"Take this down time to reflect that there are consequences for actions." He said calmly.

"Yes, commander." She murmured, resigning herself and melting on the floor.

A couple minutes later, Prowl frowned. "You are not supposed to be here. Ironhide is very strict about you coming early and staying late." He said.

"He was in recharge when I left; thus, I could not ask him. Besides, the budget liaison is coming, so I wanted to be here to help."

Prowl appreciated this. But he said, "You will go back to him as soon as you can get up and move around."

"Yes, sir." She was quiet some more after that for a little while, and then she sat up cautiously. "If I get permission, may I come back?"

Prowl contemplated this for a second then nodded his head once. "Yes, you may."

Auri pulled herself up by the drawer handles on Prowl's desk then cautiously stood without aid. This seemed to go well, so she started walking carefully to the door. Her balancing system seemed to be working almost completely. She felt perhaps a tiny bit "dizzy," to use the human term, but otherwise felt alright.

She opened the door then she turned back. "I will see you in a little bit." She said.

"You are very sure." Prowl commented.

"Well, yes; I am. Ironhide is very reasonable and understanding." She replied with the upmost trust.

"I see. Go on then."

Auri moved forwards as she turned to go, but she ran smack-dab into something big, black, and rather immovable. Her still recovering balancing system was unprepared. She stumbled backwards a couple steps before sitting down hard. "Oof. Ouch."

"Well, good-morning." Ironhide said, smiling down at her in gentle amusement. Her door-wings sagged, and she tried to get up again.

"Mphf…" rolling over to get up only put her on the floor sprawled out, face-down again.

Ironhide picked her up and held her. She ducked her head and put it against his shoulder. "What goes on?" he asked.

"She knocked out her balancing system by spinning in my chair." Prowl said.

"Little one," Ironhide chuckled. "I guess all sparklings must do it some way at some time."

"Oh, unsympathetic mechs." She said unhappily.

"I'll take you to Ratchet," Ironhide told her, "He can reset your balancing system. Will that make things better for you?"

She nodded.

"Alright, then."

"But, Ironhide, may I come back and help Prowl after that?"

"Well… seeing that I'm very reasonable and understanding, I suppose you may." He said, not quite able to hide a smile. Auri grinned at Prowl. Prowl dipped his head. He could gracefully accept defeat. Especially when it worked to his advantage.

Ironhide took Auri away to Ratchet, and Prowl was left to his work.

Prowl was quite alone when the twins came gamboling in. They noted the empty Energon cube on his desk, as well as the mostly empty cube in his hand. Yep, they thought, breakfast at work for this bot as usual.

"What goes on, Prowl?" Sunny asked, grinning a conspiring grin at his brother. This was going to be awesome.

"Not mush." Prowl said, toying with a data-pad.

The twins grinned and stuffed back their snickering for later.

"You two didn' need to come, though." Prowl continued, "I mean…" he frowned, looking confuzed. "I mean… whiff the leeyayzon coming next hour… eh, you know. You don't hanga round when the leeyayzons come."

Sunny and Sides' optics widened as horror swept through their processors. Did he say liaison?

"Erm." Sides said.

"Ah," Sunny tried when Sides didn't say anything, "So, hypothetically, what would happen if a liaison just happened to come by while … uh, hypothetically, a high-ranking bot was over-energized?"

"Ummmmm…." Prowl considered this. "Wall, high-poetically, I suppose everythin' would go wrong, annnnnnd probably, things would get vedy, vedy difficult in the upper offices. Yeah. Probably. Annnnnd we could lose funding, that wouldn' be good either."

Sunny stared at Sides in horror. Sides stared at Sunny in horror. They bolted for the door. Once the door was slammed shut behind them, they streaked behind the building and collapsed.

"What are we going to do?" Sunny gasped.

"I… I don't know! It's your fault anyway!" Sides wailed.

"MY FAULT! You came up with it!" Sunny protested.

"You should have said no!" Sides howled.

"I thought it would be amusing to switch out his regular Energon with spiked Energon. I just didn't know that a LIAISON was coming when I agreed!"

"Ohhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh. Wooooooooooe." Sides moaned. "Woe, woe, woe… Sunnieeeeee."

"Prime." Said Sunny. "We can tell Prime."

"He'll kill us…"

"At least he'll be able to do something about Prowl after he does."

"Yeah…. I guess so…" Sides didn't appear to be much encouraged though.

"We don't have much time." Sunny said, dragging himself up miserably. Then he lugged his brother onto his feet. "Come on."

Optimus Prime was in his office, painstakingly proof-reading on a report that he had to turn in. He did not like this part at all. He preferred speaking to writing. Elita teased about him dictating and having someone take down what he said, but he wasn't going to inflict that on anybody.

He called "Enter," when someone knocked on the door, and Sunny and Sides came in, looking completely miserable.

"Good-morning, twins." He said, kindly hiding a smile as he moved the phone on his desk a couple inches, "Why do you look so sad?"

"Well, sir…" Sunny trailed off. Sides rolled his wheel feet uncomfortably, and then he continued. "We… switched out Prowl's regular Energon stash." The twins darted a glance to the door, calculating the distance and the time it would take to travel that distance. "We, erm, switched it out for high-grade spiked Energon."

"I see, go on,"

"Well, he usually has breakfast in the office, so he intakes quite a bit." Sunny gave Sides a look. "Sir," Sides said, "To put it bluntly, your Second-in-Command is buzzed."

"Is that my problem?" Optimus asked.

The twins gasped and stammered.

"It would seem," Optimus said firmly, "That you two are responsible for his condition; thus, you two are responsible for coming up with the solution."

More gasping followed, accompanied by gaping and other signs of immense perturbation.

"Prime…" Sides squeaked. "How…?"

"You got yourselves in; I trust you will be clever enough to get yourselves out." Optimus said sternly. "Go now; act quickly."

"Y-y-yes, s-s-sir." "Y-es-s-err."

The twins darted out of Prime's office and fell down on the curb.

"We're dead." Sunny whimpered.

"We just have to tell Prowl straight out." Sides decided.

"Tell PROWL that he's got a tank-full?" Sunny wailed, "Sideswiiiiiiiiiiiiipe! We can't; he'll never believe us… Ahhh…!"

"Calm down. Calm down." Sides said, wishing Sunny was still as rational about the whole thing as he'd been before talking to Prime. "Let's go."

They pulled each other up, and they went to Prowl's office. On coming in, they rolled over to Prowl's desk.

Prowl had his elbows on the desk, and his chin resting on his elbows, and a little triumphant smirk was playing in his expression.

"Ah. Prowl. Uh… this may be hard to hear… I know it's hard to say. But…" Sides paused and gained courage from Sunny then went on. "We switched out your regular Energon for high-grade spiked Energon."

"I know." Prowl said quite formally and not sounding over-energized at all. "I simply wanted a direct confession from you two."

The twins stared at him at he straightened up. "Y-y… you mean, you're n-not over-energized?" Sunny spluttered.

"I am not over-energized in the least." Prowl said. "I stack my Energon cubes slightly differently from the way you stack yours; I saw that mine had been tampered with almost immediately."

Sides fell against Sunny in relief. "Oh, Prowl…" Sides said then sighed. Sunny shook his head. "You scared us." He said, rubbing his neck.

"Well," Prowl said. "Now I am issuing punishment."

"PUNISHMENT!" Sides yelped. "Prowl! That scare was punishment enough!"

"Since you two seem to have developed a penchant for lugging things around, I am assigning you two work detail in logistics." Prowl replied as if he'd not heard Sides. "Sideswipe, you will be at docking area 6A; Sunstreaker, you will be at warehouse 42B. Understood?"

"You're separating us?" Sunny wailed, "Oh, Prowl! Please don't separate us."

Prowl noted that he had brought them, figuratively, to their knees. They were verging on sparkling-like behavior at the prospect of separation. And he had scared them pretty badly. Perhaps they did not need to be dealt with so harshly.

"Very well; I will not separate you two. You may report to either of those places, or both if you so wish. You will work two hours minimum. Understood?"

"Yes, commander." "Yes, sir. Thank-you for not separating us."

"Go on now, and keep out of any further trouble."

"Yes, sir." Yes, sir." The twins said before beating a hasty retreat.

Prowl watched until they had left, and then he picked up the phone which had been on his desk, lying off the hook. "Prime?" he said.

"Yes." Optimus answered,

"It worked; thank-you for your co-operation."

"Ah, Prowl, you are welcome." Prowl could tell that Prime was smiling. "It is amusing to note that you pulled a prank on the master pranksters."

Prowl opened his mouth to protest. Then he closed it and half smiled in defeat. "So it seems I did." He said.

"May your work go well for you, my commander." Prime said in farewell.

"May yours go better." Prowl said, then he hung up the phone.

Now it was on to his usual business.

Auri came in, looking more sure of herself, a short time later. "You pranked the twins." She said, barely able to hide a grin.

"Please to do not state the obvious." Prowl said. "Who told you?"

"They told me." She replied, "I met them on the street, and they had a few things to say."

"Ah." Prowl suspected that they hadn't been very flattering.

Auri recognized the end of that conversation and went on to start another one. "When will the liaison arrive?"

"He will arrive on base at ten o'clock precisely, and he will invade this office at twelve." Prowl replied and handed her a schedule.

"He doesn't stop for lunch?"

"Jet lag." Prowl said. "He will not be hungry."

"Ah." She understood what that was like. "What is his name?"

"Agent Howard Scales." Auri could tell he didn't like the person at all.

"That makes sense." She said.

Prowl drew a blank. "How so?" he asked.

"Because he makes you want to climb the walls." She replied innocently, watching him closely. He flitted his wings back ever so slightly.

He did not appreciate the pun. He got it, but he did not like it.

"Moving on." Auri said, before he could come up with a proper rebuke."What shall I do first?"

"Please promise me that you will say nothing like that around Agent Scales."

"I promise." She said, widening her optics earnestly. "I won't say anything like that. And I promise I will be on my best behavior."

"Thank-you." Prowl said. He knew she would try her best. He trusted her.

* * *

(My sister didn't get nearly as dizzy as Auri did, but she did say, "Why do I never learn to NOT do that?").


	33. Chapter 33, Budget Liaison

I just have one more week of school left this semester, and then I should be back to updating a little more quickly.

I put in some Ultra Magnus interaction for you, Moment-of-Reason. ;) Hope you like it! And I have Auri's reaction to Elita for Silent Hunter.

MisCrasyaboutfanfics has a new story out, called "The origin of Peaches" and Auri is hanging out some more with Peaches as Peaches finds out who her Cybertronian parents were. Also, don't forget to check out Ardikani4 's story, "In the Past," which also has Auri in it.

I found Transformers fabric at Wal-Mart! I'm sooo excited! It took a while, but I finally found an employee who could cut some of it for me. Now I've got to find a black or blue T-shirt that I can appliqué a patch on, and I'm going to make myself a Transformers shirt to wear to the MOVIE, which comes out sooo soon! XD

Okay, onwards to the liaison!

* * *

Chapter 33

**Budget Liaison**

Auri was staring up at Ultra Magnus with wide, pleading optics.

"Pleeeeease, Ultra Magnus?" She coaxed, "Please?" It hadn't worked ten minutes ago, and it hadn't worked five minutes ago, but Prowl trusted her, so she was going to keep at it until she succeeded.

Ultra Magnus turned his chair ever so slightly and looked at her. "How many times do I have to tell you 'no' before you get the message?" He was slightly irritated; soldiers you told 'no' and they took it and went on.

"A couple billion, I suppose…" she said, lowering her lip a little bit in a pout and shaking her head ever so slightly. She had seen a little girl do it in a movie quite successfully. "We really, really need the reports soooon…"

"I am fully aware of that." Ultra Magnus said, "But you are not going to help with them."

"Prowl trusts me with reports…" she murmured, still looking unhappy, "And Ironhide does, too."

Ultra Magnus raised his optic ridges. So that's why Ironhide's reports had suddenly gotten whole lot longer and more formal. "That's fine." He told her, "But you are still not going to help with mine. I will have them finished within the hour –_if_ you stop pestering me."

"Aww…." She put on a pout-face and shuffled her right foot a little as she wagged her head.

"Stop it." Ultra Magnus said. "That stuff only works for Shirley Temple. It does not work for Autobots."

Auri stopped. How on earth could he have known about Shirley Temple anyway? She frowned, slightly perplexed. She sighed, then, realizing that the child actress was probably on the list of things to look into when studying human culture.

"Go on, now." Ultra Magnus said, attempting to sound more kind.

"I am not leaving until that report is in my hand." She said, copying Prowl's dogged manner. If one thing didn't work, she would try another.

"Prowl stuff won't work either." He said long-sufferingly.

Nothing worked with this stern, serious soldier bot. Perhaps he needed some humor to jar him out of this mindset. "GIMME THE REPORTS!" Auri yelled, whipping out a cannon.

"YAH!" yelled Ultra Magnus, instinctively jumping behind his desk. She had to be crazy! What-?

He heard her giggle. "Does Ironhide stuff work?" she asked, still giggling.

He came out and frowned at her. "Young femme-ling, you are about this far away from getting into serious trouble." He warned, holding his finger and thumb close together. "Now, you leave right this moment. Understood?"

She couldn't really disobey direct orders in that tone. "Yes, sir." She said quietly. She went outside and sat down on the curb and frowned. Prowl had said get some reports from Ultra Magnus. Ultra Magnus was not ready to give them over yet.

She sighed and went back to the office. "Prowl?" she said as she entered. Prowl was half way between his desk and her computer.

"Yes, Aurion? Here, file this. Go on?"

"Ultra Magnus does not have his reports ready yet." She told him reluctantly as she filed the document.

"So be it." He said. He glanced over and saw her little frown. "Do not fret about it. If he was not ready, there was nothing you could do about it. Understood?"

"Yes, Commander."

"Good." He turned his chair around 180 degrees and took a document folder from the self behind his desk. "Take this to Prime in his office, please." He said, putting on the corner of his desk. "Wait for his reply and bring his feedback to me."

"Yes, sir." She said, taking the folder. "I hope he'll be less recalcitrant than Ultra Magnus." She muttered.

"Aurion, that is not an acceptable way to speak of a commander." Prowl reproved her immediately.

"He wouldn't even-!" she stopped as she realized that she was talking back to Prowl.

Prowl raised his optic ridges at her in surprise.

"I am sorry, Prowl." She said, looking down at the folder in her hands.

"Is there something we need to discuss?" he asked, but he hoped that she would say no. He wasn't sure if he could handle it.

Auri put the folder back down on his desk and climbed into a chair. That was a yes. Then she stuck a finger against one of her optics. "I wasn't very good to Ultra Magnus."

Prowl frowned. How was he supposed to reply to that? Where was Ironhide when he was needed? Oh, what could he say? "How… do you feel about it?" he was guessing that that might work.

"Frustrated." She said. "I was just trying to do my job that you gave me. But I was trying with the wrong attitude and messed up."

"I see." He paused, "What do you plan to do in the future?" he asked; he could handle this now.

"I will think first." Auri said, "Accept what I'm given, and… act my size and rank." She added with a half-hidden smile.

"That sounds like a good plan." Prowl said, nodding.

Auri hopped off the chair and took the folder. "I will be back." She said, heading out the door.

She was soon at Prime's office, and Prime called "enter" when she knocked. She slipped in, reminding herself to behave.

Prime was at his desk, sitting in his chair with a flat look on his face while he listened to someone on the phone. "Yes," he said to the phone. "…I see," he held up a finger to let Auri know it would be a minute or two. She nodded and climbed onto a chair. "…Indeed," Prime murmured.

Five minutes passed, Auri squirmed in her chair a little. Behave, she reminded herself and sat very still again.

Another five minutes passed, Auri staring very deliberately at the art work on the wall to keep herself from getting impatient.

First Ultra Magnus took forever, and now Prime was on the phone taking forever. It was provoking. And she was in a bad attitude, too. Her door-wings drooping and she hung her head.

A tapping noise caught her attention, causing her to look up. Prime had tapped his finger on the desk; he was looking at her kindly, and he motioned her over with his free hand. She slipped off the chair reluctantly and went over to him, feeling bad that he'd seen her acting so.

Optimus tucked his head against the phone, pinning it against his shoulder so he had both hands free. He gently lifted Auri up and set her on his desk and gave her a small colorful cube, then took the folder.

He continued acknowledging the voice on the phone while he flipped through the documents in the folder.

Auri didn't really notice. She was perplexed by this cube thing. It had different squares of colors on it, and deeper scans showed that it could move some parts at a time. She turned one layer of the squares cautiously. Now there were different colors touching. She turned the thing over in her hands, examining it. The colored squares were such that each side of the cube could be one color if she turned all the parts the right way.

She worked with it, fascinated by it. Part of her processing system couldn't quite work out just which steps were needed. She paused and tried some more, working new pathways in her cognitive system as she did so.

Optimus watched her, almost able to see the thought process that was going on. It was special to get to see a young bot learning and developing, very special. He had sensed her unhappiness, but now that had faded away as her processors engaged fully on solving this new puzzle. "Mm-hm," he said to the voice on the phone. He wondered how Prowl's stress over the liaison was affecting her. He knew that she wanted to do everything she could for Prowl. He wondered if Prowl knew that she wanted him to be pleased more than anything.

He rubbed his finger over the mouth piece of the phone. He paused, and then rubbed some more. "Bad connection, did you say?" he asked, sounding innocent. "Yes, you may call back later. ….Yes. I shall. …Good-bye."

He put the phone away and smiled on Auri. "How are you today?" he asked her.

She paused the twisting of the cube. "I was a little bratty earlier, but I'm trying to get over it." She replied sparkling-like honesty.

Optimus nodded. "That is good: to see a flaw and seek to fix it." She smiled at him for his encouragement. "How is Prowl?" he asked next.

"Stressed. He is very stressed. I think he doesn't like liaisons at all."

Optimus shook his head. "He doesn't."

She looked around and saw the folder. "I need to take some feedback on that back to him." She said, going back to office mode manners.

"Indeed?" Said Optimus. "I will read it quickly then." He took the documents up, and Auri went back to playing with the cube.

After a few minutes Optimus, took out a data-pad and wrote a few things on it. "There is your feedback." He said, smiling as his optics fell on her busy little hands. She had the cube almost figured out.

She set the cube down with only a hint of reluctance and took the data-pad. "Thank-you." She said. He set her down and told her to have a good day. "Do not fret too much, Aurion-Blaze." He said gently. "The stress is not good for you or your system."

"Yes, sir." She replied, "May you have a good day." She said, smiling. Then she went back to Prowl in a much happier state of mind.

Elita was in Prowl's office when Auri came in. She was there, looking over a document with Prowl and explaining something about it. Ultra Magnus was at _her_ computer, typing in something, the box scooted over to the side.

She went over and stepped up on the box. "Ultra Magnus," she said meekly.

He looked down and over at her. "Yes," he spoke in a guarded tone; he didn't want any more scenes from her.

"I apologize for acting I as did." She said, "It wasn't very good of me. Please forgive me?"

"I forgive you." He said, half-smiling. "And I apologize for the generation and societal gap between us that makes it difficult for us to relate."

Auri sat down on her box. "You mean… because you're so much older and come from a very different background you have a hard time talking with me?" she asked, looking perplexed.

He nodded.

Auri smiled happily then. "Okay." She said, quite content. "That's fine. I just thought you didn't like me."

"I …uh, like you fine." He said, the words sounding extremely odd to his audio processors. Elita grinned at him. Prowl kept his head down. "You'd better double-check this before you finalize it." Ultra Magnus said, motioning to the computer screen.

"Acknowledged, Commander." She replied respectfully as she got of the box. Ultra Magnus stooped and scooted it back for her. "Thank-you," she said, smiling up at him. He nodded to her. He saluted slightly to Prowl and Elita, and then he left to go back to his comfort zone.

Auri peeked at Elita from time to time as she worked. Elita was finishing something for Prowl on the secondary computer that the twins usually used. She wondered how the femme commander felt.

"Is there something on your processors?" Elita asked after a bit, not unaware of the constant monitoring.

"I was just wondering how you were feeling." Auri said, feeling slightly abashed.

"I'm feeling fine." Elita answered, smiling at her, but casting a curious glance at Prowl. Prowl shrugged awkwardly. "Why do I keep getting that question?" she asked, shaking her head.

"Everybody just cares about you." Prowl said. It wasn't that sort of thing he would say, and it was not overly convincing; Elita gave him an incredulous look. He dipped his door-wings slightly. "The truth is," he said reluctantly, "You downed Prime's spiked Energon at the party last night, and Prime had to carry you home."

"Oh!" Elita covered her face. "I thought I had forgotten something."

"Is your face heating up again?" Auri asked innocently.

Elita nodded, and Auri went over to her to hug her. "It's okay, Elita," Auri coaxed, "It was an accident." She said, "Don't feel too bad about it."

Elita recovered and smiled at the little femme. "Thank-you, sweet-spark." She said, ducking her head. Then she gave Auri a pat, "Better finish that up; liaison will be coming soon."

Auri scampered back. "Yeah," she said, "Then we get to climb walls."

Prowl rubbed his head. This was going to be a long day.

OoOOooOoOoOooOOoO

"Well, well, long time no see, huh, Prowl?" Agent Howard Scales greeted as he came in. Prowl remained perfectly stiff, but Auri twitched her wings in vicarious irritation for him. "Female secretary now? Hey, moving up in the world."

"She is not a secretary." Prowl said, and Auri knew he wanted to kick the person. Prowl usually didn't want to kick anyone. "She is a co-worker; she is subordinate only because she is new here and has not learned everything yet." He looked over at Auri, "Aurion, _this_ is Agent Howard _Scales_. Agent, this is Aurion-Blaze, junior officer in training, website monitor, and coordinator of the GDtWDTP project."

Auri worked to not widen her optics in amazement. The way he said that, it sounded like she was really somebody important! And she hadn't known she was a 'junior office in training'; she was going to have to ask Prowl about that later.

Agent Scales had a confused look on his face. "The GD-_what_?"

"The 'Glyph Document to Word Document Translation Program' project." Prowl said, fanning his wings downwards a little in a condescending motion. "It is highly complex." He added. Auri maintained an outward appearance of professional composure, but within she was grinning.

"Oh, oh. As long as there is sufficient funding,"

"This uses only mind power and extensive programming skill." Prowl said, "Come, let us get started."

Agent Scales headed over to the scaffolding like structure that held several human-sized computers, desks, and chairs.

Once he was situated with his laptop before him, Agent Scales began talking. Auri did not like his voice. It gave her the impression that he thought they were some baby robots who couldn't balance a check book without a calculator.

Prowl always responded politely and very intelligently. Auri, from her place at her computer, working on a gathering a few more files, was very, very glad that she didn't have to communicate with the agent.

"And, what? What is this, Prowl?" Agent Scales asked, waving a document. After an hour of observation, Auri had learned that he liked to wave things at Prowl.

Prowl pinned it down with a finger.

"There was nothing said in the grant about any 'LBTPD,' what is that?" the man protested, "Huh? What are you holding out on me for, Prowl? -we're in this stuff together." Auri glanced over at him. He was incredibly annoying now. He was making her think of Johnny Hammer from _Ironman 2_.

"The 'LBTPD' is the "Land-Bridging Teleportation Device.'" Prowl explained. "It is on page 2974 of the overall NEST budget plan book."

"Oh." Said Scales. Apparently he had missed that page. "Well, it is ridiculously costly. What on earth does it do?"

"It utilizes space-bridge technology to create a land-bridge. That way we can go from one place on earth to another place on earth very quickly." Prowl said, Auri caught a hint of a patronizing tone in his voice, and there was that slight downward motion of his door-wings. The Patronizing Wing-Fan, Auri titled it.

"Well, it simply costs too much." The agent said.

"It is nearly complete." Prowl replied.

"It will have to stay that way then, Prowl. Come on, you know there's not an unlimited supply of money on this planet. You can't have _everything_ you want; it just doesn't work that way." He sounded like he was explaining it to a little kid that hadn't gotten just what he'd wanted at his birthday party. "Now come on, don't tilt your head that way. You got that great big hanger for those Aerialbots, and that reinforced bunker for storing things in. And what about all the new buildings, huh? You like those don't you, Prowl?"

"The Land-Bridge will cut down on response time, minimizing the damage the Cons will do before we arrive, thus saving on rebuilding costs. It will also save on the expense of fuel for the transport planes. It would be exceedingly unwise and foolish of you to cut it from the funding." Prowl said, ignoring the stupid question.

Agent Scales smiled at Prowl patronizingly and shook his head. "If you want it so much, I suppose you can keep it, but Prowl, you know you're going to have to give something else up."

"Naturally." Prowl said, holding back an acidic tone. Auri heard it, but the person was not as keenly attuned to every inflection in Prowl's voice as Auri was.

"Now… ah, I need a break; I'll be back shortly." Agent Scales said, looking at his watch.

"Very well." Prowl said. Agent Scales left. Prowl looked over at Auri. "You should go take a break, too." He told her.

"I am fine." She said.

"Go take a break."

"Yes, sir." She said, surprised. She went out and closed the door, wondering what she was to do on a break, or how long to take it.

"ARRR!" she heard Prowl yell within, then there was a metallic clang, and she heard a something hit the wall.

She whipped the door open. Prowl was standing in the room, looking as posed as ever even though he had just kicked a chair across the room.

"Take a longer break." He said. "Come back in fifteen minutes."

Auri nodded and closed the door.

Not certain about what to do, she started slowly down the street. 'That man is annoying to no end,' she thought. 'Obsesses about his money, and doesn't think we know two bits about how to manage ours. Hmphf!'

She stopped and looked at the red sports-car that was parked by the curb. It was _his_ car; she knew from looking over the logistics files. Agent Scales had insisted on having his own car brought over; the rental cars weren't good enough for him. Auri made a face. Was he aware of how much it had cost to bring his car over? She snorted. He probably had a nice little section in his budget for travel expenses that were reimbursed.

She looked away and walked on. She wasn't going to focus on negative things. That kind of thinking didn't go anywhere good and led to more negative thinking, which always got her in a bad attitude. And she didn't need a bad attitude.

"'_Hello, hello, hello again!_'" Bumble greeted her. She flitted her wings up in surprise; she hadn't noticed him standing there.

"Hi, Bee," she said, smiling at him as he moved off from leaning against the building and came over.

He signed with his fingers and hands. {What are you thinking?}

"I was thinking grumbling things about the liaison." She replied, sighing. "He's really irritating, and he's making Prowl very aggravated."

"'_Makes me wanna SHOUT!_'"

"Yep. He's like Johnny Hammer from _Ironman 2_." she made a motion of disgust.

"Bleah." Bee replied aloud. Then he signed. {What are you doing now?}

Auri slowly signed back, {I am taking a break…} that was difficult. "Prowl sent me out so he could kick a chair in frustration." She explained. "He was not a happy bot."

Bee moaned sympathetically. {I wish I could help make things better.} He signed with a sad face.

"Oh, Bee, so do I."

{You already make things better.} He told her, making her smile.

"Aw, thanks, Bee." She gave him a hug. "I think you just made things better for me."

He ducked his head. "Awww…" he buzzed. He really hadn't thought that much of what he'd said. She was still not very happy, though, he could tell. She probably needed to talk. He led her around the corner so they were off the main street. Then he motioned for her to sit. He sat down beside her after she taken a seat on the curb. "'_Let it go-oh-oh-oh-oh, let it go.'_"

"Oh, Bee! He's so patronizing!"Auri burst out, "And snobby! And he talks down to Prowl CONSTANTLY! You'd think Prowl was a whiny sparkling the way that man speaks to him…!"

Bee nodded empathetically.

Auri went on about the liaison for a while, venting her frustration and expressing her aggravation. Bee listened to her, encouraging her to speak. After a while, she sighed and didn't say anything.

Bee reached out and touched her arm. {Anything else?} He asked.

She smiled and ducked her head. "I think that's all," she said, feeling much, much better. She felt like she had been freed from carrying something very heavy. She sighed again. "We'll be alright."

Bee nodded. They would. Prowl always managed to survive dealing with the liaisons.

"I should probably start heading back." Auri said, checking her chronometer.

Bee hopped up and held a hand out to her, pulling her up when she took it.

"Bee," Auri said, smiling as she remembered something. "Did you _really_ twist a swing up and spin so much that you got too dizzy and couldn't walk?"

"Ahhh!" Bee rolled his optics. Those big bots could not keep their mouths shut, could they! "'_It's true,'_" he told her.

She giggled. "Was it fun while it lasted?"

He nodded, him optics sparkling. {I loved it.} he signed. {I always liked swings.}

"I've never been on one." Auri commented as they paused at the corner.

"Never?" Bee choked in surprise, his optics widening. Why, he'd thought every-bot had been on a swing at some point in their live or another.

"Sh. Don't use your vocal processors." Auri told him, concerned for his well-being. He nodded then motioned for her to answer his question. She shook her head. "Never at all." She said.

{Sorry.} Bee signed.

"Aw, it's not your fault." She said, smiling up at him.

'Uh-Oh.' Bee frowned and motioned at something just ahead of them at the curb.

"TWINS!" Auri yelled.

Sunny and Sides finished gently lowering the red sports-car down onto its roof.

"Hi, Aurilaze," Sunny greeted happily as he brushed his hands together. Sides grinned at her.

"This is not allowed." She said, walking up with her fists on her hips and surveying the car.

'Wow.' Bee buzzed.

"We didn't mess it up." Sides protested.

"You flipped it upside-down; that is a prank. That is not allowed."

"Aww…. Come on, Auri. We didn't scratch or ding it or anything." Sunny protested.

"Yeah," Sides added, "And we put this rubber mat down first so the pavement wouldn't scratch the roof."

"It is still not allowed." Auri said, determined to be stern.

"Honestly," Sunny started,

"IT is NOT allowed!" Auri persisted.

"Bee?" Sides asked.

{I'm on her side} Bee motioned.

The twins sighed. "Why? It's not like we painted or squished or altered it. We just repositioned it."

Auri shook her head. "Because," she started, executing Prowl's Patronizing Wing-Fan perfectly, "It is against the rules. As the few Autobots on earth, we are to act as ambassadors to the humans; thus, we display the best manners possible. Meddling with a liaison's car is not good manners."

"Their messing with our lives is not good manners." Sides said.

Auri looked over at Bee. He signed something quickly. "We must work with them because this is their planet." She said.

"Well, this is our base." Sides pointed out.

"Ah… this is his car."

"Well,"

"No!" Auri widened her optics as she remembered that Prowl had said not to let the twins argue about such things with her when she was on duty. "It is not up for debate." She informed them with a sigh. "Now, flip the car back over." She told them.

The twins looked annoyed. "Can't we just leave it until he sees it?"

"No. He'll harass Prowl about it."

"Okay, okay." Sides went back to the rear bumper, and Sunny turned back to the front one.

"One, two, three, lift." Sunny counted.

"One, two, three, flip." Sides counted.

"May we drop it?" Sunny asked as they held the car right-side-up a couple feet about the pavement.

"If you want me to call Ironhide, I suppose you may." She said with a casual gesture, starting to walk away.

Sunny looked at Sides, and Sides looked back at Sunny. They lowered the car gently to the ground. Sunny grabbed the mat and tossed one end to Sides. "Hey, Auri," Sunny called.

She paused and looked back.

"Good luck, and don't let the liaison bother you."

"Thanks, Sunny." She answered, smiling. "I'll try."

"And if you change your mind about us pranking him," Sides started, but Bee smacked him. "Ow."

"I'm not changing my mind." Auri said, rolling her optics. "He'll harass Prowl if he or his car gets pranked. And he's already irritating enough as it is!"

"Okay, okay."

"I must go." Auri said, suddenly turning and running off.

"Bye!" the twins called after her.

She got to Prowl's office in a few seconds at high speed. She halted then paused and composed herself before going back in. She could handle this.

* * *

Eh, I don't own the songs that Bumblebee used. I don't really need to do a works cited page for them, right? Prowl says I don't. Okay. Good. It takes awhile to hunt down the random songs that I use when I have no idea who did them.


	34. Chapter 34, New Things

Chapter 34

**New Things**

Bumblebee's expression was more thoughtful than usual as he walked back from battle practice. The practice had gone well and all, but he couldn't stop thinking about what Auri had said about swings. That conversation had taken place two days ago now, but it still kept coming back to him.

She had never been on a swing, never at all, she'd said. To him, that was sad. He'd been through wars and battles and suffered at Megatron's cruel hands, but he could still be touched by small things… and Auri's simple words had certainly touched him. 'Was it fun while it lasted?' She'd asked. She had no idea.

Bee shook his head. Some of his best childhood memories involved the park and swing-set.

He hurried in the bathhouse to get clean so he could go on with the next part of his day. He had the whole afternoon free to do as he pleased, and he knew what he was going to do.

About an hour and a half later, Bee was standing beside Hoist, one of the construction Autobots. They were at one of the construction areas, and the steel frame of a partially done hanger rose up around them. The funding for this particular building had been cut off last year; it had never been completed. The bots had been planning to reuse the steel at some point, but red tape kept getting in the way; thus the frame had never been dismantled.

Bee and Hoist had been working on something, and it was done now. Twin cables hung over a rafter; they were twisted around each other separately, and the ends of each with secured to either end of a short piece of steel beam from the scrapheap.

Bee was grinning in delight.

"Well," said Hoist, pleased with the outcome, "It certainly looks like a swing."

Bee nodded enthusiastically, looking over the swing with eager optics.

"Go for it." Hoist said, patting Bee on the shoulder. "I'm a too big to fit well."

Bee scampered over to the swing and got on to the seat, shuffled backwards, then kicked off. How fun it was to be on a swing again! He pumped hard and sent himself higher.

"Nice!" Hoist said, scanning the frame and the swing, making sure nothing was being strained too much. All of it was fine.

Bee swung higher and higher, absolutely thrilled that the swing worked so well. Then he tucked his door-wings well back and jumped. He landed perfectly, posing as he did so.

Hoist chuckled.

"'It's working! It's working!'" Bee cheered. "'_Thank-you very much!_'"

"You are welcome, Bumblebee." Hoist replied, smiling at the youngest mech on base. "I'll see you later. I've got some other things to work on."

Bee nodded and thanked him again before waving good-bye. Then he caught the swing and got back on. There was something else he wanted to try. He got the swing going up quite high again, and then he jumped off again. But, this time he tucked and spun, intending to do a flip mid-air.

The ground came up too fast though.

_WHAM!_

Bee winced as he lay on his back. His door wings hurt.

"Ow…" Bee moaned, rolling over. 'Way to go.' He thought. "Ow…" He got up. 'At least Hoist wasn't here to see that.'

Bee sighed and headed to go see Ratchet. He wasn't seriously hurt, but door-wings were delicate.

He gave the swing a regretful but determined looked. He was going to come back and master jumping off and doing a flip. He had been able to do it perfectly on Cybertron.

Med-Bay was empty of patients, and Ratchet was busy looking through some old medical reports. He looked up when Bee came in. "Hello, little bot." he said, glad to see the young scout.

"Hi," Bee said softly. "Erm…" It was actually embarrassing to admit that he'd fallen off a swing, especially at his age.

::What's going on?:: Ratchet asked over the comm. as he moved towards Bee.

::I tried a little stunt that I could do well on Cybertron, but the different gravity here was against me.:: Bee replied sheepishly.

"Ah," Ratchet said; by now he'd lightly scanned Bee and knew that he'd bruised and strained his wing-connectors rather badly and dinged his wings. "Hop up," he patted a low berth, "And lie down."

Bee did as bidden. Ratchet injected a localized pain-killer, and then he gently tended to Bee's wings.

"You weren't showing off for anybody, by some chance?" Ratchet asked, getting a sudden idea.

::Nope.:: Bee replied over the comm., shaking his head. ::I was just making sure I could still do the stunt… which I couldn't.::

"I suppose you're going to go back and try again once I'm done with these little repairs?" Ratchet said drily. He was slightly disappointed by Bee's answer.

"Uh-huh," Bee replied in the affirmative.

"Well, be more careful next time." Ratchet ordered sternly.

Bee nodded, smiling as his was face down. He knew that Ratchet cared deeply for him, like he was Ratchet's own sparkling, and that the old medic was just hiding his care under stern front.

No more questions were asked, and presently Ratchet patted his back. "All done, Bee. You can go now."

Bee thanked him then headed back to the swing again.

OoOOooOooOOoO

Auri slipped quietly out Prowl's office door; her shift there was done, but Prowl still had the rest of the day with the harassing liaison. Poor Prowl.

She gave the liaison's shiny red sports-car a dark look. "I wish I _had_ let the twins flip you over." She muttered aloud to it.

"Well, how do you think _**I**_ would have felt about it!" the car growled, breaking up into a transform.

"EEEEEEEEEEEEE-!" Auri squealed and started to bolt away in fright. Then she stopped and turned around. "SIDESWIPE!"

"Yeah?" The car said, grinning.

"Don't **DO** that to me! You scared me." She reproached.

"I'm sorry," Sides said, hanging his head a little. "I didn't mean to. Just when you spoke to the car, I couldn't help making it talk back."

She smiled up at him. "I understand," she said. Then she frowned. "I don't want to know what you were planning to do when Agent Scales came out."

Sides grinned.

"Where's the actual car?" Auri asked, looking around.

"Sunny and I pushed it up the block a little and put a holograph emitter over it to hide it."

"Mm." she didn't feel like defending the liaison. She sighed and rubbed her head. She did have to protect her commander from the liaison's complaints, though. "Put everything back the way it was," she said tiredly.

Sides was instantly sensitive to her feelings. "Hey, we're sorry, Aurilaze," he said earnestly, "We didn't intend to make things worse for you," he told her sympathetically as Sunny came over and hugged her.

"It's alright." She said.

Sunny let her go and rubbed her shoulder. "We'll behave for the rest of the day." He promised. "Ah, actually, we'll promise to not prank or bother this liaison for the rest of his visit this time." By saying that, he and Sunny could prank the liaison next visit without breaking the promise.

"Okay." Auri said, perking up. It was a short term promise, but short-term was all she needed at the moment.

"After we put everything back, would you like to go to the pub for something cool and sweet?" Sides asked. He could tell that the little femme needed some cheering up, and they usually had a good time at the pub.

"Aw, thanks, mech, I'd like that a whole lot," she said, brightening. "But Bee has already has my time. He's taking me to see something that he thinks I'll like; he's coming in just a couple moments."

"Oh. Well, okay. Maybe later?" Sunny asked.

Auri nodded as a yellow Camaro came around the corner. Bee pulled up and transformed. "Ready?" he asked.

Auri nodded.

"What are you taking her to see?" Sides asked.

"It's a surprise." Auri told them. Bee nodded.

"How you get so dinged up?" Sunny asked, noticing a few small dents on the other yellow-armored mech.

Bee grinned. The twins were jealous because she was going with him instead of them. He touched her arm and motioned "let's go" with his hand.

"See you two later." Auri promised.

"Hmphf." Sides muttered, but Sunny waved pleasantly, calling, "Have fun!"

Bee transformed. Auri transformed as well and followed him as he drove out to the middle of nowhere.

"What _are_ we going to go see?" Auri asked, slowing down, feeling a little apprehensive about being so far away from the places she usually was around.

"'Almost there…'" Bee told her.

"Okay." She said. They topped the little hill, and then she saw the abandoned hanger frame.

Bee transformed and Auri followed suit. "An abandoned hanger frame?" she asked uncertainly.

Bee led her closer, watching her face, waiting for the moment when she realized what it was. He was not disappointed.

"Ooooo! Bee!" She squealed, her face lighting up, "It's a swing-set!" She couldn't have been happier.

The two small winged bots ran the rest of the way, stopping only once they reached the swing.

"Is it safe?" Auri asked.

Bee nodded confidently, but she hung back, still a little uncertain. Then he realized that she wasn't sure what to do. He climbed on and pushed off. "Like this!" he said. He pumped and gained a little altitude, and then he tucked his wings back and jumped off, landing perfectly.

Auri watched, delighted and fascinated at the same time.

"Come on," Bee motioned, taking her by the arm. {No jumping}, he warned. He held the swing still while she scooted on, and then he pulled it back and let go, giving her a little push.

Auri thoroughly her very first swing ride. It was almost a little frightening, and the motion was a bit strange, making her systems jump sometimes. It was quite thrilling.

"Oh, Bee, this is very fun!" she said happily.

He grinned back at her, more than content with the result.

He pushed her for a while, and then she wanted him to swing some, to share. He complied willingly. He took his turn, and then he tucked his wings and jumped off again, this time doing a wonderful flip and landing perfectly.

Auri clapped her hands. "That was great, Bee! Do it again!"

Bee ducked his head, terribly pleased, and went to do it again. It had been challenging and painful practicing the flip, but now every bit of it was worth it. He did the flip again, to Auri's delight, and then he helped her back on the swing.

By now she'd figured out how to pump and make herself swing without help. Bee climbed on the frame and hung upside down by his legs, making her giggle at him as she swung.

'Now we just need a slide and some 'monkey-bars,' as the humans call them.' Bee thought to himself.

"Hey, can I jump off?" Auri asked. Bee nodded. It was perfectly simple, jumping off. He hopped to the ground to stand and watch.

Auri waited for the swing to reach the right place, and then she jumped.

"OOOOW!" she screamed in pain as the swing jerked her back by the wings and slammed her into the ground. "Oohhhh…!"

Bee was horrified. He ran over and put an arm around her, helping her up and gently guiding her wings clear of the swing.

"Owwww…" she whimpered, trying to not cry.

"I'm sorry," Bee whispered. "I didn't think about that…" he hugged her to comfort her.

She sniffed and put her head against her shoulder. "It hurts," she whimpered.

"I know; I did it once." He gently rubbed her back, "Let's go to Ratchet, okay?"

"Mm-hm…"

He led her slowly towards Med-Bay. When they finally reached Med-Bay, Bee slid the door back for her and tenderly ushered her in.

"Nnnnyah! RATCHET!" Chromia was yelling. She was prone on a berth and strapped down. Ironhide was right beside her.

"Sh-sh." Ironhide coaxed, "It's fine."

"Owwwwww! It's not FINE!"

"I think we came at a bad time." Auri said softly to Bee. He twisted his mouth to the side.

Ratchet came over from his fifth cabinet, holding an instrument. "It will be fine in a little bit." He told Chromia. "You should be more careful out on the practice battle field. Oh." He said, seeing the two little bots.

"What happened?" Auri asked, concerned.

"She twisted and strained part of her arm." Ratchet said, "Just snapped a couple wires and… ahm, it will be fine shortly."

"Poor Chromia," Auri murmured.

"Why are you little bots in here?" Ratchet asked, raising an optic ridge. Bee and Auri, here together…?

"I jumped off the new swing," Auri said, "But I didn't know to tuck my wings back… so I got caught, and it hurts." she started to tear up.

"Aw, there-there," Ratchet crouched down beside her to rub her shoulder. "I've taken care of lots of door-wings in my time," he said, "I'll have you feeling fine in sooner than it takes to explain. Okay?"

"Okay…" she murmured, slipping away from Bee to hug to old medic.

"I'll give you something to ease the pain," he said, "But then I need you to sit quietly and wait while I look after Chromia, since she's more seriously damaged. Can you do that for me?"

"Yes, sir." Auri said, nodding seriously. "But my rump is sore from falling."

"We'll take care of that." He sat, rising. He went and got something like an ice-pack that glowed a little bit. He set it down on a low berth, and then he motioned Auri over. He picked her up and seated her gently on the pack. "Alright?" he asked her. She nodded. "Okay, and this is for your wings; hold still." She flinched a little when he injected the pain-killer. "There." He said, "Now wait for me like a good little bot, and I'll be back to take care of you as soon as I'm done with Chromia."

Auri nodded and settled to wait patiently. Bee came over and climbed up to sit beside her.

{Sorry about this}, he signed.

{It's okay. Mostly my fault}, she signed back. {It was fun while it lasted}, she added with a smile. Bee grinned back at her.

::So, you weren't showing off, you were just practicing for it.:: Ratchet sent over the comm. to just Bee.

::I hadn't been on a swing for a long time.:: Bee protested.

::But you _were_ showing off.::

Bee looked cross-eyed for a moment. ::Why don't you get yourself a femme before for you start teasing me about one.:: he sent back.

Ratchet paused and looked over at Bee briefly before turning back to his work. ::I already have my sights on one, youngling.::

::So? Where is she?::

::None of your business.:: Ratchet replied curtly.

Bee smiled. The femme had to be on base. ::What's your holdup then?:: he asked.

::She's a sniper, and I'm a medic, and there's a war going on. We need to defeat the Cons before we can get together.::

::MOONRACER?::

"Who on earth are you intercomming with?" Auri asked Bee, giggling. She'd seen the variety of expressions going across his face. It had to be interesting conversation.

Bee gestured to Ratchet then signed. {I'd intercom with you if your com-system wasn't down}.

"It's down again?" Auri asked, checking. "Arg. This system has serious problems." She said, aggravated. "Ratchet…! My intercom is down again."

"I'll just have to fix it again." Ratchet said patiently.

"Okay." Auri said, calming down, a little embarrassed about her outburst. It was frustrating, though; her intercom seemed to be down about half the time. She shrugged and then she and Bee sat patiently and played hand charades.

Ratchet kept hearing quiet giggles and soft chuckles from the two little bots as they played. Normally he had no tolerance for noisy bots, but since these two were the only two younglings he had on this whole planet, and they did belong to two of his closest friends, he let them carry on without shushing them.

By and by he finished with Chromia. He slipped her armoring back over her arm and released the restraining straps. "Okay," he said, rubbing her shoulder, "All done. Be more careful next time, will you?"

"Eh, not yikely." Chromia murmured as he helped her sit up. "I waza Con in the simulation, and they's crazy."

Auri stared at her femme guardian. Bee said, 'oh.'

"Sedatives." Ratchet explained to the younglings.

"Lotsa sedadives," Chromia slipped off the berth and leaned on Ironhide. "You'r gonna haveta carry me home, My'Ide." She slurred. "But… I'll reward you,"

Ironhide picked her up gently, a smile creeping onto his face. Chromia put her arms around his neck and kissed him soundly.

"Erm," Bee looked away.

"Smooch patrol, smooch patrol!" Auri called, covering her optics.

Ironhide chuckled at his little femme-ling. "You've seen more than this before, calm down."

"Bee and RATCHET are here!" Auri protested, waving blindly at the room with one hand.

"Oh, yeah, the chief medical officer knows nothing about mech and femme relations." Ironhide teased.

"EEEEEEEEEEEEEEK! Stop it!" Auri squealed.

Ironhide stopped teasing but kept grinning. "Alright, alright. We'll go now. Thanks as always, Ratchet."

"Yeah, yeah." Ratchet said, waving him out, "Go on." A moment later he chuckled. "Okay, younglings, you can look now."

Bee looked around, and Auri uncovered her optics. "Those two are crazy." Auri said, shaking her head.

Ratchet knew otherwise, but he kept his knowledge to himself and merely smiled. "Let's see to your little door-wings now." He said.

"Okay. They still hurt even though you gave me pain-killers."

He nodded. That was often the case, sorry to say. He worked as carefully and as gently as he could, but he couldn't help but hurt her a little now and then.

"You really dinged you wings up badly." He commented, stepping back to frown thoughtfully.

"I didn't mean to," she said, her fists pressed against her optics.

"I know, I know, sweet-spark." He said gently, rubbing her shoulder. "I'll let you be for a few minutes now while I get a different tool, okay?"

She nodded. Bee rubbed her arm and coaxed a smile out of her.

"I'm inclined to smack the next little door-winger who comes in with wing damages." Ratchet muttered. "It's high time they learn to be more careful."

"It was an accident." Auri protested.

"That's what I'm tired of, 'it was an accident'; if Bots would be more careful, we wouldn't have so many accidents." Ratchet said.

Bee gave Auri an exasperated look. Now she'd done it; she'd started him on one of his rants.

'Oh,' Auri mouthed, 'Sorry.' Bee nodded: he forgave her, and it was okay.

Ratchet went on. "Time and time again I have… ah, hello Prowl."

"Hello." Prowl said flatly from the doorway.

"Don't tell me that you've jumped off a swing and injured yourself, too." Ratchet said.

Auri and Bee stifled giggles down, but Prowl looked slightly annoyed and perplexed.

"I will not, for I have not." Prowl said, looking rather cross. "Nor could I; we have no swings."

"We do now." Ratchet said with a sage air.

"Oh."

"Why are you here, Prowl?" Ratchet asked, seeing that Prowl was in a terrible mood.

Prowl lifted a hand in a motion towards his wings, "My…"

Ratchet smacked him upside the head.

"What. Was. That. For." Prowl demanded.

"I said I was going to smack the next little door-winger who came in with wing damages."

"I have no wing damages." Prowl said reproachfully, "My shoulders and back are sore."

"Ah." Said Ratchet. "Sorry for smacking you then."

"Mphf."

"Take a seat." Ratchet said patiently, and Prowl went and sat. Ratchet shook his head and went back to Auri and her delicate door-wings. He gave her a little more painkiller then paused. She looked questioningly over her shoulder at him. "Just a moment." He said; he'd had inspiration.

He went over and opened a drawer and pulled out a relatively small box with a round lid. He carried it back to Auri's berth and opened it, stuck his hand in, and then drew it out again, presenting her with a piece of copper-candy on a stick. It was much like the lollipops that humans gave their kids to rot their teeth while keeping them quiet.

Auri took it and looked at it curiously. "Thank-you…?" she wasn't sure what she was supposed to do with this thing.

Bee gaped at her, his optics wide. Prowl stared. "It's _candy_, Aurion!" he was astonished.

"Oh!" she sat up straighter at the sound of Prowl's voice. "I've never had candy." She said, looking at it.

Bee buzzed in wonder. Prowl raised his optic ridges.

"Well, put it in your mouth." Ratchet said, pretending like he wasn't completely bewildered and distressed.

"Yes, sir." She complied, and then a smile light up her face. "Mmm!" she pulled the candy out to speak. "It's good!"

"Uh-huh." Ratchet took her hand by the wrist and made her put the candy back in her mouth. Then he went back to work. She squeaked once, but she couldn't very well wail or fuss with her mouth occupied.

"Issa twick." She commented around the candy. Prowl twitched his wings.

"Come again?" Ratchet asked.

Auri pulled the candy out so she could speak clearly. "It's a trick."

"Yes, it is." Ratchet admitted frankly.

{Well, I didn't get any when I came in}, Bee signed, much amused.

"You weren't fussing like a little sparkling." Ratchet said. Then he chuckled. "Oh, here." He said, playfully offering the open box to the little scout, "For being such a brave little bot."

Bee laughed, but he took a candy, happy to do it. He'd not had candy in a long time. He smiled as he put it in his mouth and the good taste swept over his mouth sensors.

"Prowl?" Ratchet offered the box to the cranky Commander.

"No, thank-you." Prowl said. He only wanted the liaison and the pain gone.

"Have some anyway." Ratchet said, mercilessly shoving a piece into the smaller bot's mouth. Prowl glared at him and jerked it out. Ratchet raised an optic-ridge. "Don't defy your medic, now." He warned.

Prowl sighed and slipped the candy back in. There was no winning today, was there. Mm, he'd forgotten how delicious copper-candy was...

Ratchet went back to Auri.

"I yike iss be'er 'n 'weet E'rgon," She said happily, smiling around the stick that held the candy.

"Don't talk with your mouth full." Ratchet told her.

The candy came out for a moment. "Yes, sir." It went back in.

Ratchet finished up with her wings soon after that, and then he set her on her feet. "There you go, little one." He said, patting her.

"Thank-you for looking after me," she said, reaching up to hug him. He allowed himself to be hugged for a moment.

"Tuck your wings well back next time you jump." He said.

"Yes, sir; I will!" she replied emphatically.

"Good."

"Okay, Bee, shall we go back?" Auri asked, "Do you still have free time?"

Bee nodded, delighted that she wanted to go back.

"It will be even more awesome this time!" Auri said, grinning as she headed towards the door with him. "Yeah!"

Out the door they went, and a moment later Ratchet heard them rev their engines in car-mode and drive away."

"Go, go, go, crash, hop up, and go, go, go some more." Ratchet said to himself. "Little bots…" he shook his head. Little bots were marvelous.


	35. Chapter 35, Learning & a Promise Kept

I went and saw _CARS 2_ today! I liked the first one better, of course, but _CARS 2_ was pretty good as well, and quite fun! :)

I have gotten a deviantART account! Thanks for the encouragement, Jacqueline Walker :) So, now you all can see some of the things I've draw. I have the same username on deviantART as I do for FanFiction, "Cairistona," and I've put a direct link to my deviantART profile on my FanFiction profile. I put up a picture of Prowl watching as sparkling Bumblebee spins around on a twisted swing, an incident mentioned back in Chapter 32, "Tumbles, Pranks, and Tricks." Check it out! :D

* * *

Chapter 35

**Learning Some Things and Keeping a Promise**

Auri was jumping off the swing for the eighth time when she saw Prowl approaching at a slow walk.

"HI, PROWL!" she called as she landed. He raised a hand in greeting and continued his gait.

{I wonder what he's up to}, Bee signed. He was hanging upside down quite happily.

"There's no telling what Prowl is up to." Auri said, climbing back onto the swing. "But it looks like he's coming over to us. Oh, no. I hope the liaison doesn't want my help with something. He's been more annoying than even since he found out that I can find files very quickly. I was a little too helpful once before Prowl could stop me." She tucked her wings back and jumped off. "Hello, commander." She greeted Prowl as he stepped under the frame.

"Hello." He said, looking around.

"Are you feeling better?" Auri asked.

"A little less sore." Prowl replied. "Thank-you."

{Why are you here?}, Bee asked, still hanging.

A corner of Prowl's mouth dipped down. "Ratchet ordered me to take a break for an hour. He told me to watch you two and learn something."

"Learn what?" Auri asked, leaning on the swing.

"That is what I asked him." Prowl said, shaking his head. "He said something about life and living."

"'_Just wanna have fun!_'" Bee played a lively music clip.

Prowl didn't care for the idea and didn't reply.

"Well, we're having lots of fun." Auri said, though uncertain how to go on; she was well aware of how Prowl felt about fun.

"I am sure." Prowl said, "I will just watch."

::A lot of good that will do him.:: Bee sent over the comm. to Auri. He rarely used sarcasm, but he did this time.

::Yeah, I know. He's obstinate, though… have you any ideas?:: Auri sent back.

::No, sadly. Poor Prowl. He's too, too serious.::

::Yeah…::

Auri looked over at Prowl, who was looking away. "Do you want a turn on the swing?" she asked on a wild whim. She held back a giggle at the way his wings flitted up and back at such a preposterous notion.

"No, thank-you." He replied, ever courteous.

"'You probably couldn't handle it any way.'" Bee jibed using a line from the movie, _Cars_.

Prowl turned around, an optic-ridge raised. "Indulging in playground taunts?"

"Whatever gets the job done." Bee replied pertly.

"Playground taunts get you sent home for being a brat." Prowl stated.

"'And you know this how?'" Bee asked, winking at Auri.

"Common knowledge, and I saw it happen." Prowl replied. "Stop this now, younglings; I will not put up with it."

"Watchya gonna do? Tell on us?" Bee swung a little, mockingly.

"Please," Prowl entreated, "I am having a stressful day; please do not add to the stress."

"Just take one turn on the swing and then we'll let you be." Auri said, prompted by Bee over the intercom. She actually felt terrible for picking on him.

"So be it." Prowl said resignedly. Auri got off the swing and presented it to him. He scooted on with a grim look.

Auri climbed onto the frame near Bee.

"'_Don't try this._'" Bee told her, indicating his upside state.

"Why?"

"If you fall and hurt yourself," Prowl said, "We will never hear the end of it."

"Ah." Auri said. He had a good point. He could also make the swing go high very well. "Maybe tomorrow I can try it?"

{Maybe you can just play it safe.} Bee signed with a stern look.

"I missed out on hanging upside on a jungle-gym, too." Auri said, sighing.

"You are trying to catch up on the things you missed as a sparkling?" Prowl asked. He had the swing about as high as it could go now.

"Sort of." Auri said. "It seems I missed a lot."

"Getting spanked, falling off swings, getting dizzy and falling on your face…" Prowl listed, "Certainly something you want to catch up on."

Bee rolled his optics. {Candy, swings, tickles, slides, laughing so hard you can't stop.}, he signed.

"What Bee said: Candy, swings, tickles, slides, laughing so hard you can't stop" Auri said. "I've never been on a slide."

"Wonderful things for falling off of." Prowl said, "Or, slide down, and then try to climb up again, slip and slide down backwards and hit your chin on the edge and make it ooze Energon. Very fun."

"You horrid cynic!" Auri exclaimed.

Prowl was amazed at her response. Nobody ever had the audacity to call him horrid.

"I'm _sure _you had more good times on a slide than bad!" Auri said forcefully.

"Well…Yes." He admitted after a moment.

Auri seemed satisfied with that and said no more.

"May I get off now?" Prowl asked.

Auri nodded. "Only if you jump."

Prowl jumped and did a stunning back flip, landing perfectly with his arms outspread.

"OOOoooh!" Auri was delighted with this. "That was splendid! Will you do that again, please?"

Prowl caught the swing. Bee looked a tiny bit annoyed at being outshone. "No." Prowl said, "It is somebody else's turn."

"Bee?" Bee took a turn, and Prowl went over to where Auri was leaning on the framing.

"You have caught up on swings and eating candy, and taunting someone on the playground, what is next?" He asked.

"I don't know yet," Auri said. Then she paused thoughtfully then added, "But I think that's part of the fun."

"Not knowing what comes next is… fun?" Prowl hated not knowing what was going to happen next.

Auri nodded.

"Oh." Prowl watched Bee gain altitude.

Bee jumped off, copying Prowl's magnificent back flip quite well. He landed neatly.

"Nice!" Auri cheered.

Bee looked very pleased,

"Bee-!" Prowl started, but he was too late. The swing smacked Bee in the head from behind.

"OW!" Bee yelped, putting his hands over his head. "Arrrrr!"

Auri ran over, "Oh, Bee! Are you alright?"

Bee nodded even though it was obvious that his head had to smart. "Ow." He muttered.

"Here," Auri said, leading him away from the swing and motioning him to sit. He sat, and she knelt, taking out her standard-issue first-aid-kit. "There should be something…"

Bee pointed out a small ice-pack-like object.

"Oh, of course!" She took it out and put it on top of his head. He repositioned it and held it in place. "You can take a turn on the swing, Prowl." She called over her shoulder.

'She thinks life is a game.' Prowl though as he got on the swing. He swung slowly. 'Everything is a game: Whoopsie, Bee got hurt, let's play doctor. Uh-oh, the liaison is mad, let's play like he's a tyrant who we have to serve. It's battle practice time, let's play we're fighting Cons… nothing is serious.' He shook his head. He watched her sitting with Bee, watching her face. It was very solemn. 'I take that back; it is a serious game, but a game nonetheless, and it does not upset her and make her mad. Ratchet should be happy now.'

Prowl kicked and sent the swing almost as high as it could go.

"Are you going to jump?" Auri asked eagerly as she and Bee turned their attentions to him.

"Yes." He said, his begrudging tone of voice gone.

He reached the maximum height and then jumped, flipping, and then catching sight of Optimus Prime in his alt-mode watching.

PRIME!

_WHAM_!

Prowl gazed up at the sky. Ratchet was going to have a field-day when he, Prowl, walked in having fallen off the swing.

Prime's face blocked his views of the sky. "Are you alright, Prowl?"

"I fell." Prowl stated crossly, daring to be short with Prime.

Prime extended a hand to him, and he felt an immediate rush of shame. He knew it he shouldn't have responded that way. He grasped Prime's hand, and his leader helped him to his feet. He winced.

"It was my fault."Prime said, "I apologize."

"It is alright." Prowl said, "I regret my tone… I apologize for being rude."

"I forgive you, Prowl." Prime said kindly. "Stand still."

Prowl stood still while Prime scanned his back and wings.

"Mainly just bruises?" Prowl asked, wishing Auri and Bee stop staring at him with concerned faces.

"Mainly." Prime said, "There's a minor break in your right connector, though."

Prowl twisted his mouth.

"I can repair it if you will let me." Prime added.

Prowl nodded. "I will." He said. Ratchet would beam him if he showed up a minute too soon in Med-Bay, especially with damaged wings.

Prowl ducked his head and kept perfectly still and silent while Prime mended the small break. Prime had neither the fine tools from Med-Bay, nor Ratchet's skilled fingers… it hurt a bit more than it really needed to. It hurt quite a lot actually.

::I'm almost done, Prowl, hang on a couple more moments.:: Prime reassured him over a private intercom line. He knew he was hurting his officer even though he didn't mean or want to.

The moments soon passed, and Prime patted Prowl gently on the shoulder. "I'm done now." He said.

"Thank-you." Prowl replied, meeting his leader's optics.

"You are welcome" Prime replied. He looked over at Bee and Auri. "You two don't need to look so grim."

"Indeed you do not." Prowl said. "I am fine."

"We're just concerned for your well-being." Auri said gently. "You're our friend, y'know."

Friend? That was one of those words Prowl generally tried to avoid.

"Well, I am fine, assure you." He paused then changed subjects, "Why are you here, Prime?"

"I am here because I made a promise some time ago that I need to keep." Optimus Prime's tone, and the twinkle in his optics, made Bee and Auri instantly curious. Prowl scanned his memories lightly.

"A promise to who?" Auri asked, " –I mean, whom?"

Optimus crouched down so he wasn't towering over her so much. "It was a promise to a little femme who wanted to stand and watch the North Lights shimmer in the sky."

There was a slight delay in Auri's response as she realized that she was the little femme. Then her face lit up with delight. "Are you going to take me to go see them again?" she asked, her excitement building.

Optimus nodded, a gentle smile lighting his expression.

"Oooooooh-!" Auri squealed with delight and grabbed Optimus around the neck to hug him. Although very surprised, he put his arms around her and hugged her back.

"Does that appeal to you?" He asked, pleased with her response.

"Oh! Yes! Yes, sir! It does very much!" Optimus could feel how excited she was. "Oh! -My guardians- I'll have to get permission from my guardians-"

"I have already gotten their permission." He couldn't help but be amused.

She hugged him more tightly. "Thank-you!"

"You are welcome." He said, gently setting her down and smiling at her.

"May Bee come with us?" she asked eagerly, "I know we can't go alone." She added.

"Certainly. Bee may come with us if he likes." Turning to Bee, he already knew that his little scout would be delighted to go along. Bee nodded, looking very happy.

"Oooh… the twins are going to throw a fit." Auri said, looking half amused and half annoyed.

"Let them." Said Prowl, "I can always brig them."

"'Ruthless-!'" Bee exclaimed.

"It's his hobby." Auri said seriously.

"Aurion-Blaze-!" Prowl reprimanded sharply.

Auri winced, and her optics grew wide as if she might cry soon. She hadn't meant to say anything wrong, truly, she hadn't.

Prowl reached out and touched her shoulder. "Do not say that again." He said more gently, seeing her innocence. "It is rude, disrespectful, and untrue."

"I'm sorry, Prowl." Auri said, "I didn't realize that… the twins just said it like fact."

"You were parroting them." Prowl realized aloud.

She nodded.

"That is unadvisable." He said. "Enough now. Do not worry about leaving them to go see the Auroras; they will not doubt survive the separation."

Auri smiled. "Yes, commander." She said. He automatically gave her a slight nod of dismissal then she looked to Optimus. "When will we go?" she asked.

"According to our readings, there should be a good display over the next two days, so you have a bit of a choice." Optimus replied. "When would you like?"

"Oh, as soon as possible!"

"No hesitation there." Optimus commented, amused and pleased, "Very well, we shall meet in four hours at the Land-Bridging device."

Auri paused, calculating the time zones. Then she nodded. "Acknowledged." She said.

Optimus left soon after setting the time, and the three door-winged bots were left to themselves.

Prowl did not condescend to climb of the frame and hang upside-down, and Auri was not allowed to, but Bee did it to his heart's content, and they all took turns on the swing. Even Prowl. True, he was a little stuffy about it, but secretly he was amused that the younglings insisted on him joining their "fun."

He made a final perfect back flip off the swing again, and then bowed slightly. "I take my leave." He said, "Ratchet will be expecting me."

"Alright." Auri said, slipping on to the swing, "Tell him hi for us."

"Very well." Prowl agreed. He narrowed his optics as she twisted the swing once. "Do not try spinning on a twisted swing today, Aurion. You will mostly likely miss out on your trip if you do."

Auri untwisted it quickly. "Oh, dear…! That would be terrible."

"'_You spin me right round, baby, / Right round like a record, baby, / right round, round, round…_'" Bee played for her amusement, and she giggled.

Prowl went off to Med-Bay, writing on his data-pad as he walked.

Ratchet was waiting for him when he entered. "Well, Prowl?"

Prowl handed him a data-chip and turned to leave.

"Nah!" Ratchet grabbed him by the wing. "You don't get out of this so quickly." He said, motioning Prowl to sit.

Prowl did as ordered, thinking grumbling thoughts about being Second-in-Command and getting treated like he was a sparkling by the Chief Medical Officer.

Ratchet put the chip in his data-pad and opened the single file.

He raised his optic-ridges as Prowl and then proceeded to read the list that came up on the screen.

1. Friends are there to help

2. Do what you must to get the job done

3. Be willing to compromise

4. There is more than one way to view something

5. Do not be afraid to jump

6. What comes next could be fun

7. Not knowing what comes next is part of the fun

8. Watch your head

9. Life is just a game; be serious enough to win, but not so serious that you do not enjoy it

10. Remain focused

11. Friends will help you when you fall/fail

12. Forgiveness is priceless

13. Pride is worthless

14. Hang on for a couple minutes more even when it really hurts

15. Friends are there to look after you

16. Always keep a promise

17. Bring along a friend

18. Delayed gratification may be highly over-rated

19. Friends watch out for you

20. Be careful, but have fun

"Prowl…?" Ratchet eyed the commander. This couldn't be from Prowl's hands… could it?

"Yes?"

"Did you write this?"

"I did." Prowl replied, and Ratchet knew it was true because Prowl was not good at lying in the least unless it was to a Decepticon.

Ratchet looked at the list again. "With no help?"

"With no help." Prowl confirmed "May I go now?" he asked.

"Ah… yes. You may go." Said the astonish medic.

"Thank-you." Prowl got off the berth and turned to leave Med-Bay, rather pleased with himself.

"WAIT!" Ratchet bellowed. "What happened to your door-wing?"

"Door-wing?" Prowl asked as if he didn't have any. "Oh. It is fine." He said.

"What happened to it?" Ratchet demanded.

"Prime fixed it for me after I fell while jumping of the swing." Prowl blurted out then transformed swiftly and shot out of Med-Bay before Ratchet could react.

"PROWL!" Prowl heard the yell as the door slid closed, but he didn't slow down.

In Med-Bay, Ratchet huffed, knowing he would never be able to catch Prowl if he tried to run him down. 'I guess I won't be getting an explanation out of him,' he thought. He looked around, slightly annoyed 'Oh, well, at least I got him to take a break for an hour, if nothing else.'

He went back to work and tried to not go crazy wondering about the details of Prowl's hour off.

OooOOoOoOOooO

Auri had told Ironhide and Chromia bye, and had patiently nodded through their admonitions to be careful, attentive, obedient, respectful, patient, polite, and to not pout when she had to go back, to not beg for more, and to not get into any trouble. Now she was hugging them.

"One thing I forgot to add," Ironhide said.

"Yes, sir…?" Auri had almost heard enough, but she still loved him.

"Enjoy your outing."

Auri grinned. "I will enjoy it immensely!" she said, nodding happily. "I will very, very much!"

Ironhide chuckled at her enthusiasm and gave her a pat. "I know you will."

"Well, I must not be late. You two enjoy your…uh, time."

Ironhide hid a broad grin. "Oh, you can count on it."

Chromia gave Auri one last hug and kissed her before letting her leave.

Auri finally got out the door and headed down the road. 'Honestly! You'd think I was leaving for the rest of my life and going completely alone.' She giggled to herself. 'It's not like Optimus Prime can't look after me. If he can't, nobody can.'

She met Bee at the Land-Bridging device. It was fully complete and functional, and it had been for a couple weeks. Prowl had simply told the liaison that it wasn't done because the building wasn't entirely finished.

"Are you ready?" Auri asked in an excited, hushed tone.

Bee nodded, his optics flashing with anticipation.

"Where's Optimus?"

"'Late!'"

"Uh-oh." Auri wasn't sure whether to be amused or concerned.

Bee shrugged, not too concerned.

"Has your balancing system completely recovered?" Auri asked.

Bee nodded. He had no idea why he had even twisted up the swing and spun around, but he had, and there was no denying that he'd been a little less than steady when he gotten off.

They waited about ten minutes, and then the well-known Peterbilt truck came down the road in high gear.

"I apologize, younglings." Optimus said as he transformed.

"It's alright." Auri said as Bee signed the same thing. They could both sense that Optimus was less than happy and not at all content. "Has something come up? –do we need to put off until next evening?" Auri asked.

Optimus smiled at her thoughtfulness. "No." he said, "Nothing has come up, and we are not putting this outing off. You are ready?"

Both little bots nodded, and Optimus motioned them to follow him. He focused on them and on getting to see the auroras; he pushed away his darker feelings and masked them so the little ones would not pick up on them.

He signed the three of them into the record and put down their intended destination. Then he got a small device for each of them; one he kept, the other two he gave to Auri and Bee, explaining that they would reopen the land-bridge on command. "Do not lose them." He warned.

Then, after he entered the desired coordinates, they were ready to go.

He activated the bridge, and Auri grabbed Bee in fright, having never seen the bridge in operation. Optimus took her gently by the hand, prying her off Bee, and led her through. Bee followed.

It was late evening at their new location. They were in a lovely wilderness with gently rolling hills, and there were mountains in the distance. There was a trace of sunlight left near the horizon although the sun had been down for some time.

The three Autobots walked a little ways and found a good place to sit. Optimus scanned the area, making sure it was secure, and then looked down at his young charges. They were gazing at the sky, wonder glowing in their optics. The sky was untainted by light-pollution and many, many more stars were visible than were visible at NEST.

Auri and Bee marveled excitedly over the intercom with each other, pointing out constellations and making comments on the beauty of it all. Optimus gazed on the sky in silence. The two little bots had the com open to him, and he could hear their chatter, but he saw no need to add his two-bits. He tuned them down and drank in the peace and serenity of the quiet night.

"Oh!" Auri cried out softly with delight, "There!" she pointed to their left. A band of color was showing up against the dark sky, a stunning green aurora tinged with purple. She watched the colors almost as if mesmerized by them. They were, she thought, the most wonderful things she had even seen.

She peeked over at Bee. He had a looked of pleased wonder on his face, much the one on her own face. He turned and smiled at her. "It's so pretty, isn't it?" he whispered in his own voice.

Auri nodded. "I love it."

"If we scoot down the hill a little ways, we could see a reflection in the lake."

"Okay."

Auri whispered to Optimus their intentions.

"Alright," he whispered back, "Only do not go too far."

"Yes, sir." Auri replied, and then she and Bee went down the hill a little ways.

The reflection was splendid. Auri had never seen Auroras reflected in water before, and it was even more fascinating then actually seeing the Auroras.

Optimus watched from where he was. He watched the sky as well as the little Autobots. He knew they wouldn't misbehave; he just enjoyed watching the younglings interact. Ratchet had caught him earlier that day and demanded to know what had gone on at the swing, and he'd told the medic all that he could. And Ratchet had told him about Bee falling on the ground while practicing a jump, and Auri getting hurt while trying to jump, and Ratchet had told him about giving them candy and the various reactions. Optimus had enjoyed that.

He wished he could just hang around and be a part of the little ones' lives in a fun way, rather than always having to be in one meeting or another, dealing with Decepticons, and dealing with all the hundred other things a Prime had to deal with.

Oh, to be free from serious responsibility for just a few weeks…! He pushed the thought away, knowing he could not do that. He could take a day off now and then, but never a week. Perhaps when the war was over, his job would be less time consuming. That would be good. He would give it his all, though, until it was over.

_CRASH!_

"YAH!" Optimus yelled as he rolled, knocked over by the impact of the metal body that hit him.

Bee and Auri jumped up with weapons ready, but they lowered them as the recognized Optimus's assailant.

Elita laughed and came up on top of Optimus as he stopped rolling.

He blinked his optics in amazement at the femme on his chest. "Hi." He said, slightly stunned. She was here! She had been able to come, and she felt marvelous.

"Hi…" she was warm and smooth, sending a thrill through his chassis. "You looked at little lonely," she said softly, and he could hardly wait for her to go on in her wonderful voice. She did, and it was heaven, "So, I thought," she interrupted herself by kissing him, "I would," she kissed him again, and it was awesome,"Stop," kiss, "And," kiss, "See," kiss, "If,"

"We are _right here_!" Auri squeaked.

Elita froze. She put her head up, and Optimus turned his. Rolling down the hill had put them right beside Auri and Bee.

"You… weren't alone." Elita said, her face warming up.

"Er… no, I was not." Optimus said. He had completely forgotten about the two younglings once she'd shown up.

"Why didn't you say so then?" she protested as she rolled off and sat beside him.

"You knocked all thought of others out of my head." He said, sitting up.

"That's a good line," Bee whispered, and Auri giggled softly.

"Besides," Optimus added, slipping an arm around her, "I liked where you were going." He leaned forward to kiss her.

She put up her hand to stop him. He paused, thwarted, but not for long. He took her hand and kissed the fine fingers. She gave a little warning look.

"I promise I'll behave." He whispered, and that settled it. She stayed with him, happy to be there beside him, close.

Auri and Bee grinned at each other, now sensing Optimus Prime's joy. He'd been sad earlier because Elita hadn't been coming along; now she was here and it was perfect.

Auri sighed as sigh of deep contentment. Prowl had made it past Ratchet and was satisfied as could be, Optimus and Elita were happy, Ironhide and Chromia were happy, she had three cool mechs for her best friends, one of them was beside her, and she was in the prettiest place on earth, watching the Auroras.

She felt certain that her old guardian would be quite content with how well she was. He would probably be sorry that he couldn't have shared time like this with her, but he'd be glad that she was able to enjoy it now with others. He might be a little jealous that she was so completely happy without him, but he would still be glad that she was happy.

She pushed the thoughts of her old guardian away, lest she get forlorn missing him, and refocused on the beauty and friendship that surrounded her. And she was quite happy.

* * *

Don't forget to check out my deviantART page (Yeah, I only have four pictures up, but I'll have more later).

http : / cairistona. deviantart. com /

And don't forget to review! ;) I love everybody's reviews, even the short ones. :)


	36. Chapter 36, Farewell, Liaison

I GOT TO SEE TRANSFORMERS DARK OF The MOON! YEAH! It was great! Like, super great! XD And… I will not spoil it for anyone who's not seen it yet. (The plot twists were awesome, though!)

Anyway, just so you don't have to wonder, the new movie is not going to change what I write in this story or the sequel.

Rule 29 belongs to Hummergrey. Check out her awesomely hilarious fic, "If an Autobot do NOT do the following." :D

* * *

Chapter 36

**Farewell, Liaison**

Chromia awoke first among the bots in her household. Onlining her optics, she gazed at her mech, taking in every bit on his pleasing form. It would be nice to start the day with him, but she wasn't going to wake him unless it was necessary. Prowl had been stressed out, and Auri had picked up on his stress to a certain degree, and Ironhide had picked up Auri's concern about Prowl's stress and become stressed out himself. Whatever is was, it had tired the tough mech out quite a bit, and he needed the extra rest.

Chromia smirked as dragged herself off the bed and wandered into the main room. Ironhide could handle Decepticon attacks, ornery younglings, and just about anything that he could use physical force on. When it came to sitting by and watching, though, he was a goner. 'My poor Ironhide…' Chromia thought. 'Oh…!'

She was a little surprised to find Auri still in recharge; she usually was up by now. Chromia nudged her with a finger, but she remained in a deep, peaceful recharge.

'Okay. So, my mech and my little one are soundly in recharge… lonely me,' she thought to herself.

Auri needed her rest as well. Chromia smiled, remembering how Optimus had knocked quietly on the door last night. Once Ironhide had gotten enough armor on to be decent, he'd opened the door to find his leader cradling the little femme against his chest.

"Out like a light, as they say," Optimus had said softly. "She had a wonderful time, though."

Optimus had carried the little femme in and settled her gently on the couch, and she had hardly stirred at all.

Chromia took out a cube of Energon for breakfast but put it back, wanting to breakfast with Ironhide. She took out one of her cannons to check.

Then a pleasant thought came to her head.

The liaison was leaving that day. No more pest.

She smiled, very pleased. That liaison had proved to be a real annoyance. She'd picked up on Auri's irritation many times, and she knew that her little femme-ling was happy that the man was leaving.

"Oh!" Auri roll over and sat up, her optics wide.

"Good morning," Chromia chuckled at her surprise.

"Good morning!" Auri slipped off the couch and stumbled over to her. She picked Auri up when Auri reached her and put the little femme on her lap. Auri cuddled against her. "I wake up slowly…"

"Yes, you do." She said, not minding it at all. She loved it when Auri wanted to cuddle. The little femme seemed to have less of a need for her than she did for Ironhide. So, Chromia held dear the times that Auri spent with her.

After a little while, Auri came fully awake and asked to go early to the office.

Chromia tucked her chin in disapproval as either she or Ironhide had all the other mornings.

"Please?" Auri asked winningly, "You've let me go early all these days that Agent Scales has been here. Just this one last day, and then I'll go in at the usual time." She coaxed.

"Well…"

"Oh, thank-you!" she hugged Chromia tightly.

"I… didn't say yes yet." She protested, laughing as she knew that Auri saw right through her.

"It was a yes _tone._"

Chromia laughed again and snuggled her, "Alright, you may go early this one last time."

"Thank-you!" She was content. "Will you get me breakfast please? I should go fairly soon."

Chromia nodded, setting her on the table for a moment while she got a cube for Auri. Then she took Auri back onto her lap. Auri cuddled against her and sipped her Energon. Chromia savored the sweet moments with her little femme-ling, but soon the little one scampered off to the big world.

OoOOooOooOOoO

When Auri came in to the office, Prowl was leaning back in his chair as he scanned the news, and a rare, tiny smirk of contentment was visible on his face.

She grinned, delighted to see him so happy. "Good-morning!" she greeted.

"Very good morning." Prowl replied, sitting up straight and resuming his usual formal manner.

"What do we do now?" Auri asked in wonder.

"We clean up the mess Scales made of our files, resort the files, make a plan of how to execute his budget, decide which items we will ignore or override, prepare a full report for Prime, begin…" he paused as Auri's optics seemed to grow very wide. He realized that the full list would probably overwhelm the little femme. "For now we will just do our regular morning routine: reports, website, backups, and filing." He said.

"That sounds good." Auri said, going to her computer.

The phone rang, and Prowl glanced at the ID.

"Scra-! …erm…" Prowl got a hold on his vocal processor about half a second too late. He ducked his head, "I am sorry." He said to Auri.

"It's alright." Auri said, "I understand completely."

The phone kept ringing.

"Are we going to answer?" Auri asked after the fifth ring.

Prowl nodded. He picked up the handset. "Good-morning, Agent Scales." He said, grinding a few gears in his jaw-workings. "Is there some problem?"

Auri anxiously watched Prowl's face as he listened to the liaison, but he kept it devoid of any expression.

"Oh." Said Prowl. "Are you sure you left it in Parking-Lot C5? Could you have left it somewh…" he got interrupted. "Ah. Of course, of course." Pause, "Indeed," Pause, "Probably not. Shall we come help you find it?" Auri heard a tinge of sarcasm in Prowl's voice. Then Prowl's optics widened and his door-wings flitted up then down. "We will be there shortly." He said in a flat tone before hanging up.

Auri raised her optic-ridges questioningly as Prowl rose.

"Come." Prowl said. "He cannot find his car."

"Is that _our_ problem?" Auri asked widening her optics.

"He thinks it is." Prowl replied, "Do not ever use sarcastic questions on liaisons, Aurion; it always backfires."

"Yes, sir."

He gave her a second glance. "Are you alright?" he thought she looked slightly sick.

"I am alright." She said, and he took her word for it. They drove to the parking lot.

"It's nowhere to be seen!" Agent Scales yelled by way of greeting. The two bots transformed calmly and surveyed the area.

Cars were sparse in that lot, and nowhere did a red sports-car shine in the early morning sun.

"By method of elimination," Prowl said, "That vehicle over there is yours." He pointed to a car nearby.

The car was the liaison's, but it was not shiny red anymore. On the contrary, it was green. It was money green, and a President's head had been stenciled the hood, while a monument stencil graced the trunk. The doors, too, were detailed, and numbers were done on each fender. Other fine details, scrolling and such, were painted on the trim.

"AIIIIIIIGH! MY CAR!" Agent Scales yelled. "MY CAR!"

Prowl glanced around. By now word had gotten out and some Autobots had gathered, some discreetly, others more openly.

"MY… MY… MY… CAR-! ITS PAINT JOB HAS BEEN RUINED!"

Prowl gazed down at the vehicle. The detailing was quite impressive and extremely artistic.

"MY CAR HAS BEEN RUINED!"

"I do apologize. The prankster will be caught and dealt with." Prowl said, keeping a diplomatic tone.

"THAT DOESN'T HELP MY CAR'S APPEARANCE, PROWL!"

"I suggest having it repainted." Prowl replied calmly. 'Although, it does seem to fit your obsessive personality now.' He thought.

"DO YOU KNOW HOW MUCH THAT WILL COST?"

"I'm sure it is well within your personal budget."

"I AM GOING TO SEND The BILL TO NEST BASE!"

"I understand." Prowl replied. "I suggest you leave now; you do not wish to miss your plane."

"YOU ARE GOING TO WISH THIS NEVER HAPPENED!" Agent Scales threatened as he dug for his keys. Prowl knew the threat would fall short. Nobody ever got far when they tried to prosecute for pranking.

Scaled pressed the unlock button on the remote.

The car emitted a very loud, "KA-CHING!" like that of an old cash register.

Agent Scales stiffened, and his face began turning a deeper red.

"YOU THINK THIS IS FUNNY! DON'T YOU!"

"I think purely along logical lines." Prowl replied, but several bots in the gathering crowd were snickering. Prowl glanced swiftly at Auri, and he was pleased to see that she was keeping a perfectly straight face.

The beet-red liaison climbed into his car – his red face was quite livid beside the green paint-, and inserted the keys into the ignition.

"KA-CHING!"

The snickers increased.

He yelled something and shifted the car into 'drive.'

"KA-CHING!"

More snickers erupted. Prowl turned and gave the bystanders a look that told them to break it up and leave. He glanced at Auri again; she was still serious, but there was something else in her face, something made him think that she was lying when she said she was alright. He was going to talk to her and/or send her to Ratchet when this scene was over.

"KA-CHING!" rang the car again as the liaison stomped on the gas pedal. He sped away toward the exit terminal, and laughter broke out as the 'Bots got a clear view on the car's rear bumper. It was covered with various money bumper stickers.

"Got Money?"

"CAUTION: I'm crazy about money"

"Work harder: we want to spend your money"

"Carpe Per Diem (Seize the lunch money)"

"I'll spend your money better than you"

"Got gas money?"

"Speed costs money. How fast do you wanna go?"

"Enjoy the taxes, you gullible fools!"

Sunny and Sides were nearly falling over each other with laughter; the other 'Bots were only a little better off. Prowl stood, watching the car leave while he wondered which 'Bot had done the painting. He turned, and the Autobots slipped away to get busy before he gave them something to do.

Prowl sighed, and Auri looked up at him. He glanced down at her straight, slightly unwell face. "We are done here now." He told her. She nodded, and then they went back to the office.

"Thank-you for not laughing out there." Prowl said as he held the office door open for Auri to go in first.

"I couldn't laugh out there." Auri replied, "I knew it would just cause more trouble for you if I did." She explained softly.

"I appreciate that." Prowl said then the conversation was over. He paused as he tried to figure out how to bring up her health.

Auri went to her computer, leaving Prowl frowning in indecision.

"Cheer up, Prowl." Prime said, coming in. "It's not that bad, is it?"

Prowl snapped to attention. "It is highly frustrating." He replied, his door-wings twitching up.

Prime leaned on the wall, relaxed and pleasant. "It will be past in a few days." He said. Prowl thought Prime had been aggravatingly relaxed the entire morning.

"Have you heard about the liaison's car?" Prowl asked, beginning to sort the data-pads.

"Yes. I saw pictures of it, too."

Prowl heard the smile in Prime's tone and turned to frown at him.

"Rule twenty-nine has broken." Prowl protested reprovingly.

"Rule twenty-nine," said Prime, looking it up, "'A Government Liaison is not to be harassed, threatened, or targeted for pranks in any way.'" He looked at Prowl with a smile. "At least it was broken with style and creativity." He chuckled.

"Prime!" Prowl's door-wings twitched up very high. Prime needed to get serious! Really!

"I would apologize, Prowl, but I find it too humorous." Prime answered.

"The fact that a rule has been broken is not humorous, however."

"True…" Prime admitted. Prowl stiffened and narrowed his optics. Prime had been unaccounted for last evening for quite some time after bringing Auri and Bee back from the Northlands.

"Prime." Prowl said, "Please tell me truthfully that you did not execute this prank."

Prime chuckled and laughed. Then he sobered down to just a smile. "No, I did not 'execute' this prank, Prowl. Although, I must be flattered that you suspected me."

Prowl didn't believe in flattery. "Well, you were somewhere else last night."

"Elita knows where I was last night." Prime said meaningfully. Prowl shut up right then, but Prime detected a stifled giggle from Auri's part of the room. "It did occur to me, though," Prime said, "That _you_ have quite a bit of motive."

"_I? Prank a liaison?_" Prowl was aghast.

"Oh, Prime." Auri said, coming over and going to Prowl. "Don't tease poor Prowl." She said as she put a protective hand on the commander. "He has enough to deal with already." She sounded like she was going to get very upset and cry if he teased any farther.

"Easy, Auri. It's alright." Prime told her gently, slightly startled by her vehemence.

Auri nodded her head, composed herself, and moved on. "I have updated the website." She said to Prowl, "Now what would you have me do?"

"Go through the security footage and find out who painted the liaison's car."

"Yes, sir." Her door-wings dipped a little lower, and she returned to the computer.

Prime and Prowl discussed the restrictions that the updated budget had replaced on the use of the land-bridge for a while, and then Prime left.

"Prowl?" Auri said, "The security footage has been tampered with; it just plays the same hour over through the time of the prank…" she trailed off, sounding a little uncertain.

"Oh. This was well thought out." Prowl frowned. "Alright, then, Aurion. List the Autobots, and then remove from the list the ones that were on missions, on watch, in the brig, etc.; use the method of elimination."

"Yes, sir." She stared at the computer for a moment then went to work slowly.

"Are you unwell, Auri? Answer me truthfully, please." Prowl said.

"I am perfectly well." She gave him a slightly exasperated look. "I am fine. I would be in Med-Bay if I wasn't fine, you know Ratchet and my guardians." She added with a smile.

"Yes, I do indeed." he said, letting it go.

She was fine, the liaison was gone, and the files were going to go smoothly with her extra help. Prowl was quite content with the situation.

He sneaked a peek at the twin's supposedly secret webpage on the NEST intranet. They had no idea that he knew about the site. All the pranks went up on that site, the twins' pranks as well as the pranks of others. Everybody on the site had usernames and could comment on various pranks or vote on them.

The liaison's car was on the front page.

"The AWESOMEST paint-a-liaison's-car prank YET!" was the caption. Then the description went on. "A yet unknown artist showed amazing skill and finesse in painting the irritating Budget Liaison's car with money details. The remote receptor and other key components of the car were also rigged to emit a loud "KA-CHING" whenever the liaison attempted to access them. As a finishing touch, the prankist covered the vehicle's luxurious backside with various money-themed bumper-stickers."

Prowl scrolled down and read the comments.

"AWESOME XD LOL! Amazing!" ~Ultraprankus

"I was literally rotflol-ing out there! That dude totally had it coming, and bot did he get it! His face was RED! XD!" ~Smooth1

"A piece of genius that I would have LOVED to been a part of! Nice Job!" ~Smoother1

"OH, yeah! Major like here! (We need a 'like' button, seriously)" ~Xman

"Brilliant! :)" ~OptimusPrime:P

"Sweet stuff! That's a nice lil prank there!" ~LOLtunes

"Excellent, if I do say so!" ~FineTunedCar

"Hahaha! Don't forget to check out the video if you weren't able to see it in person! [link]" ~UnseenXpertTrixter26

"Oh, wow! This is great! 8D" ~IcanSting2

"Nice one!" ~SweetSharpShooter

"Ha!" ~SweetSharpShootersMech

Prowl glanced up to make sure Auri was still busy. She was.

MysteryMechC'sU signed in and left a comment.

"Nice execution: you made a statement with style regarding the liaison's obsessiveness."

MysteryMechC'sU signed out quickly.

Prowl went back to work. He had a whole lot to do. And Prime was still threatening to make him take a day off.

* * *

And Prime carries out his threats, y'know! ;) That day off is coming up soon. Meanwhile, don't forget that I'm on deviantART now. I just added a new picture that goes with Chapter 34 of this story. It's got Auri, Bee, Ratchet, and Ironhide and Chromia in it. Check it out, and let me know what you think. :)

http: / cairistona. deviantart. com/art/ Gallantry-s-Reward- 216794619


	37. Chapter 37, Troubles and Friends

WOW! Sweet awesomeness XD! You readers gave me NINE reviews on that last chapter! I love it! Love you!

Yes, I'm updating early to show my utter delight! XD

I mention the Quintessons a little later in this chapter, but some of you might not know about them if you're just familiar with the movie, and not the G1 TV show. The Quintessons enslaved the first Transformers, but they were cruel and calculating, so the Transformers revolted.

* * *

Chapter 37

**Troubles and Friends**

Prowl glared at the lists of things the budget liaison had left for him to do. He did not like this part of his job. And he certainly did not like that liaison. Prime was right; he did have motive. But he would never condescend to pranking. –well, unless it was the twins he was pranking-.

Prowl worked on his documents some more. Then he stopped.

"Was the car covered with plastic wrap before it was painted?" he asked.

"No, sir." Auri said. Then she shifted her wings slightly.

Prowl went back to his contemplations. Ever since one of the 'Bots had come up with the idea of covering cars with plastic wrap before painting them, no one had not wrapped the target's car with plastic wrap before painting it. Doing so would mean impunity from rule twenty-nine. That little loop-hole was common knowledge. No pranker ever disregarded it, unless the pranker was fairly new to NEST Base and didn't know all the common knowledge yet.

Prowl looked over at Aurion. She certainly had motivation to prank. She had been seriously provoked by the liaison, but she had handled herself very maturely and had behaved as perfectly as possible.

She had access to the security footage, and she was artistic and creative.

AND she had been acting rather strangely this morning.

She was standing on her box at the computer, working diligently as always, but there were something different about her body language.

Prowl frowned. "Do you know about plastic wrap?' he asked, looking down at his writing.

"Plastic wrap?" she asked, sounding a little confused. "Uh… It is a thin plastic material that stretches and sticks, and people use it to cover foods in glass dishes." She said, turning to give him a slightly odd, though still respectful, look.

Prowl nodded. "And all bots also use it to cover liaisons' car before painting them." He said, watching her face.

Several emotions flickered through her optics quickly before she lowered them.

"Did you paint the car?"

She lowered her head and nodded regretfully. "I… I did do it." She said softly.

Prowl looked down at his desk. He had thought that this would be a good day, for the liaison was leaving. He'd expected some prank from someone… but not from his trusted little Aurion. Now he had to lecture her.

It was not something he wanted to do.

He motioned her over.

"I am greatly disappointed with you." He told her, "You had shown yourself to be a model of good behavior and an Autobot of excellence, and now you have stooped to this, a petty act of vengeance painting a budget liaison's car. It is deplorable."

She hung her head, and he didn't call her down for it.

"We strive for excellence in this office." He said, going on; it had to be perfectly clear in her processors that her behavior had been unacceptable. He could not afford to let her off easy and take the risk that she would prank again. "We do our best. We are reliable. As the law-enforcers, we are to show ourselves as examples. This, Aurion, was not a good example. You have broken a rule you ought to have upheld. You have made a way for this office to be exposed to scorn and derision. That is unacceptable. This office is to be irreprehensible, above reproach. You are well aware of this. You have clearly shown it by your good behavior until this day. Now I am surprised at you. And I am displeased with you. I expected better than this, Aurion-Blaze, much better."

Prowl paused as Auri pressed her fingers against her optics. She was going to cry if he said anymore, he realized. He hesitated. He'd had more to say, but now her body language stated that she clearly understood him, and that she regretted her action. He had meant his words to induce a sense of regret, but he did not want them to cause extensive suffering. If he stopped now, it would be enough. And he most certainly did _not_ want to make her cry.

"Have you anything to say?" he asked.

"No, Prowl."

Prowl picked up a data-pad. "Does anyone else know that you were the one who painted the car?"

"N-no, sir."

"Then we will keep this completely confidential, telling nobody."

"Understood." She whispered. If nobody knew, the office's reputation would be preserved. "Wh-what about m-my guardians… they'll know something's wrong."

"You may tell them, but they may tell nobody else."

She nodded.

Prowl wrote something on his data-pad. "No punishment will be issued." He said, "For, this was a first offence. But, mind you, Aurion, it must not happen again."

She nodded.

"Understood?" he prompted, business-like as usual.

"Un-," she started, but she choked and broke down in tears. She'd been holding them back even since Prowl had started the lecture, but now she was just too miserable.

She had seen a mech receive a whipping in a documentary on the Quintesson slavers one time. The Quintesson had lashed the mech again and again. She had never had such treatment, but Prowl's words of sharp disappointment had felt like what she imagined it would be like. They stung and cut.

"_I am greatly disappointed with you." _He had said. *_Lash!*_

"_I am surprised at you."_ *_Lash!* "I am displeased with you."_ *_Lash!* "I expected better than this," *Lash!*_

It was more than she could handle. Her conscience had been torturing her even since she'd woken up that morning; she'd felt guilty for betraying her position.

She'd failed Prowl and greatly disappointed him. She'd NEVER wanted to disappoint him! And she'd not wanted to displease him either…!

She'd thought the liaison would report the painted car to security, Red Alert's office, and then go on. She'd never considered that the liaison would hold Prowl accountable for it. She never would have painted the car if she'd thought it would come back on Prowl's shoulders.

Prowl watched as she stood trembling and sobbing. He had no idea what to think. He felt rather bewildered, actually. He had never before made anybody cry with his lectures.

"Auri…?" he started uncertainly, but she kept crying. He picked up a data-pad and looked at it helplessly. He put it down. "Aurion, please talk to me instead of crying."

She cried a little harder.

So, that didn't work. He looked down. The last time she'd really cried, she had cried for an hour, and it hadn't been his fault. And then he'd tried to talk to her, and she'd started crying again, eventually sobbing herself into recharge. Oh, sure, things had gone fine after that, but then once Ironhide found out… well, he didn't need to remind himself about him getting chased by Ironhide and Auri ultimately stun-gunning Ironhide, and then Prime, on top of him.

He did not want anything like that to happen again. Nor did he want his little subordinate to be so miserable. He had never imagined that she would take his words this way. It was almost disconcerting.

He came around from behind his desk, moving to her side of it and standing before her. Cautiously, he reached out and touched her shoulder, halfway expecting her to claw him with her formidable little talons. But she didn't respond in any way whatsoever.

"Come sit down," he said, a gentle note softening the order. She kept crying but took a shuffling step forward. "Good, femme-ling," Prowl encouraged. "Come on," he led her to a chair, and she crumpled into it, tucking her feet under herself and curling up protectively.

Prowl took another chair and sat, watching her. What on earth was he going to do now?

He hesitated for several minutes. Last time he had just waited for her to calm down. Perhaps just waiting would work again. He went back to his desk with lowered wings and pretended to work.

Auri calmed down after a little while, quieting down after only fourteen minutes. Then she slipped off the chair and dragged her feet over to Prowl's desk.

Prowl put the data-pad down and looked at her, what little bit of heart he had was melted now.

"I'm sorry, Prowl." She said softly.

He nodded slowly, uncertain, feeling like he was on the edge of a minefield, about to cross it.

"I didn't mean to threaten this office's reputation." She said softly. She shook her head, "I would never want to do that. I thought that nobody would find out."

"Never assume that something will not be found out."

"I won't again." Auri shook her head and brushed away a lingering tear.

Prowl doubted that would be the case, but he knew that she meant it sincerely. There was a short silence then.

"I apologize if my words were too severe." Prowl said gently after a few moments. "I had no intention of making you cry."

Auri blinked her optics and tried to not start crying again as his kind words touched her. "It's o-k-ay," she hiccupped, "What you s-said w-was true."

"I will be gentler in the future." He said.

"It's not happening again." Auri said resolutely, trying to dry her face with her hands. Prowl handed her a clean polishing cloth. "Thank-you." She murmured.

She dried her face and then folded the cloth.

"Better now?" Prowl asked.

Auri nodded. "Yes, commander." She said, smiling at him, but her spark was in immense pain.

"Good." He said. He was extremely relieved that she had calmed down so quickly. "It there anything else that we need to go over?" he asked.

Auri shook her head.

"You may continue your work then." He told her.

Auri went back to her computer and sighed softly to herself, wishing she'd thought more before she'd painted the car. Prowl's severe disappointment had completely torn her spark in two. She'd done a horrible thing in painting the car… she'd acted so badly, so un-honorably …so terribly, and it had made him mad at her.

It had been nice to make the liaison screech in aggravation, but now Prowl hated her for breaking rules and shaming the office. She really was miserable.

Prowl worked on his papers, unaware of Auri's misery. Rules were broken all the time, he lectured, and life went on; that was all there was to it in his mind. He had gone through standard procedure. Well, he'd had to shorten the lecture a bit since she'd started crying, but he'd stuck mainly to standard procedure, and she's acknowledged it and gone on. It was fine.

At least, he _thought_ it was fine. This impression was short-lived, however.

Auri made some sort of muffled noise over by her computer. Prowl heard it and looked over, deep misgivings filling his mind. She was still crying.

'Oh… no…! Please….! Please, please, please let it be something I can handle on my own…!' Prowl thought desperately.

"Now what is wrong?" He asked aloud.

Auri collapsed and hid her face.

"I'm-m –j-jus-s-s-t-t s-s-s-o-oh s-sorr-rrreee-ee….!"

Prowl rubbed his head in bafflement. "Did we not just finish that?" he asked.

He was met with more muffled crying. He looked around, distressed. She had said that everything was better, she had said there was nothing else that they needed to discuss, and he'd taken her at her word. It was very perplexing. He was in over his head, he decided.

::Prowl to Ironhide. I need help.:: Prowl decided that intercomming Ironhide would be the safest, best thing, least painful thing to do, just this once.

::Ironhide here. What do you need help with?:: Ironhide replied.

::Aurion.::

::I am picking up a whole lot of upset and distress from her; what have you done now?::

::ME!:: Prowl exclaimed, ::I mean, I! She painted the liaison's car, I gave her a standard lecture, it was done, she said sorry, I let her know that it was okay. And she is still crying now!::

::Prowl.::

Prowl grimaced. Ironhide was about to tell him how very stupid he was.

::Prowl, you gave her a standard lecture?::

::Yes, sir.::

::Was it long?::

::No. It was shortened a great deal; it only lasted several minutes.::

::SEVERAL MINUTES! PROWLCAR! YOU_** LUGNUT**_! Several _minutes_! She idolizes you and looks up to your every action, adores the ground you tread on and thinks the world of you! You lecture her for several minutes and you think it's not going to break her spark? YOU-::

Prowl closed the com-line, a stunned look on his face. He'd had no idea. He knew that young, little bots always found somebody to look up to and admire, but it had never crossed his processors that Aurion would select him.

::IRONHIDE TO PROWL!:: Ironhide sent over the com. ::I ought to beat some sense into your head, but I'll help you out this time. She's not upset because _she_ got scolded. She's upset because _you_ scolded her. That's all I'm giving you. If you can't figure out the rest, you deserve all the misery that will come to you. Ironhide out!::

Prowl sat down beside Auri, still slightly shocked. He ducked his head, thinking for several minutes. Then he figured out what he needed to say.

"Aurion, will you listen to me, please?" he asked slowly. She stifled her tears back and nodded. He braced himself then went on. "I have been acting solely as an officer and commander. I have been behaving as a professional, mature Transformer in a workplace setting. This is not a game." He told her gently,

"We are not playfellows playing a game of keeping office. We are 'grown-ups' working in a real place." He paused as Auri moved her head to turn damp optics on him. "I have watched how you do things," he said softly, "And I have seen a little bot acting out a role-playing game."

Auri lowered her optics. He was pretty much right, she knew. It was like a game. But it was a very serious game that she wanted to play well in.

"There is nothing wrong with that, Aurion. But, because of it, you look at me as a playfellow, friend, buddy… etc.. That is not what I am. I am a senior office and a commander, and that is how I spoke to you. I am not you buddy; I am not your playfellow. I am not your playmate squawking at you because I did not like how you played; I reprimanded you as your commander because you broke a code of conduct." He hesitated, "Is this making any sense…?"

Auri nodded with a sigh. "You spoke in a business manner, not a personal one."

"Precisely." He was stuck between joy at her understanding him and aggravation that he'd had to use so many words to convey what she'd said in one neat, little sentence.

Auri looked thoughtfully at her clasped hands and was silent for several minutes.

Prowl glanced up at her computer as the screen saver appeared.

"I… I understand, Prowl." Auri said. "I'm sorry."

"There is no need to be sorry. This is just part of the learning process." He told her. He had said it to himself hundreds of times since he'd come to earth.

Auri smiled half-way. "Thank-you." She said. She paused and dried her face again. "We should probably get on with our work. Ironhide is not going to allow anymore overtime after this."

Prowl was a little surprised; generally he was the one who took control and gave the signal to move on. "If you are ready," he said, not wanting to push her anymore.

She nodded.

"Alright, then." Prowl rose, and he offered her a hand up.

Soon he was back at his desk and finally comfortable, but Ironhide had sent him something marked 'IMPORTANT.' He raised his optic-ridges and opened the file.

There was the list that he had given Ratchet. It was an exact copy, but three of the rules had been highlighted and underlined.

**11. Friends will help you when you fall/fail**

**15. Friends are there to look after you**

**19. Friends watch out for you**

He studied the three rules. They all started out with 'Friends.' The object of all three was 'you.' The verbs were 'help,' 'look after,' and 'watch out for.' He'd not realized how very similar those three rules had been when he wrote them. But, they did all convey slightly different things.

Why was Ironhide sending these three in particular…?

"Is something wrong, commander?" Auri asked softly from her position, seeing his puzzled frown.

"N….no." He said. He left his desk and went over to her at her computer again. She looked anxiously at him, the box bringing her closer to optic-level. "I need… to… speak as a friend." He said.

"Oh…" she wasn't sure what that constituted.

"The friend apologizes for the commander making you cry and making you feel hurt." Prowl said, completely uncertain as to how to communicate it sensibly. Auri worked to not giggle at the cute awkwardness of the third-person usage, but a laughing smile played in her optics.

"I did not mean to upset you or make you feel hurt." Prowl said, hastily dispensing with the third-person tense.

Auri smiled at him fully; the pain was all washed away now. "It's okay, Prowl." she said freely, "I know you meant it for the best."

"Thank-you for understanding." Prowl said, ducking his head a little. "You are a good friend."

Auri was speechless. Prowl… PROWL had called her a good friend. He who avoided and eschewed friendship had called her a good friend.

"Th-thank-you," she managed to answer after a minute. "That means a lot."

Prowl half-smiled, knowing that she valued friendship very highly. The way she treated Bee and the twins was a testament to that. He looked around. "Shall we go on with our work?" he asked, "Then you can go hang out with your friends."

Auri nodded. "You are a good friend, too, though, Prowl."

"That is not true. I am good commander, yes. But, friend? No."

Auri refused to believe him and gave him a look that said so.

Prowl raised an optic-ridge. "Have you been around me while I am off work?" he asked.

"There was the time at the swing." She said.

"I was still on duty then."

"Oh. Then… no, I have not."

"Then you have only been around me while I am acting as a commander."

"Oh." She lowered her head. "Well… then. You are a very good commander."

"Not 'very.'"

"Are you going to argue with everything I say?" she exclaimed, exasperated that she couldn't give him a single word of praise. Ironhide had said it was like removing gears to get Prowl to accept praise; she saw that it was true not.

"No, not everything." Prowl said. Then he went back to his desk to work.

OoOOooOooOOoO

Prowl ducked under his desk to see why the drawer was not coming out smoothly. It had been annoying him since yesterday, but he'd not had the time to tend it.

He growled softly a few moments later.

"Shall I try?" Auri asked.

Prowl came out. "You may. Thank-you for offering."

Auri went under.

Prowl went over to her computer to work a little, and about that time, Bumblebee came in.

"Good-morning, Bumblebee."

"Good-morning!" Bee greeted with a cheerful song, but his face was serious.

"What?" Prowl asked.

"Auri –," Bee answered, "'She did it!' –please 'don't hurt'" He'd figured out that she'd done it, and he'd known Prowl would figure out, too, but he didn't want Prowl to come down on her hard for it and make her unhappy.

"Oh-h…" Prowl said. "Aurion,"

"Yes?" Auri crawled out from under the desk, "I think something is just jammed in there the wrong way."

Bee's optic-ridges went up in surprise.

"Bee is what you may call a good friend." Prowl told Auri, hiding a smile at the shocked look on Bee's face. "He discovers your wrong-doing and asks mercy for you."

"Bee is a wonderful friend." Auri said, smiling Bee. "Thank-you, Bee. We already talked. It was rough, but we're okay now."

{I'm glad you're okay now}, Bee signed.

Auri gave Bee a hug. Bee glanced over at Prowl. Prowl was back at work on the computer.

{You should have plastic wrapped the car first, but the prank was beautifully done; it was like art… making a statement in style.} Bee signed surreptitiously.

"I saw that, Bee." Prowl said over his shoulder, motioning to the reflection on the screen.

Both little bots froze.

"Truthfully… though…" Prowl went on reluctantly, "… I agree."

Bee and Auri both widened their optics in astonishment.

"I do not condone the prank." The commander clarified, "But I do agree with Bee's statement."

Auri laughed with pure delight. Bee chuckled.

Prowl went under the desk to fix the drawer.

Bee and Auri grinned at each other. Prowl was so awesome, they agreed. He was impossible and incorrigible, too, but they still loved him as a brother.

Bee signed that he had some work to do and wished Auri and Prowl farewell.

"Do not share what I said." Prowl ordered Bee.

{My lips are sealed,} Bee signed, smiling.

"Thank-you."

Once Bee was gone, Prowl and Auri settled back to work.

Auri frowned. "Everything was fine before. Why do the liaison people want to change it?"

"They believe that the new way will work better."

"Do you?" she asked.

"Sometimes I do; sometimes I do not. Always, though, I make an effort to comply with their requests, within reason."

"I see." She was quiet for a couple moments as she typed, and then she spoke again, "… speaking of reason…You should put a limit on how much NEST Base will reimburse the liaison on the 'damages' done to his car."

"Good idea." Prowl said. "I will do that right now."

The rest of the day went smoothly. Then, when Auri got off work, the twins were waiting to walk her home.

"AURILAZE!" Sunny scooped her up and spun around. "That was the most awesome prank!"

"Wh-? put me down."

He put her down.

"What makes you think I did it?" She asked, racking her mind for some way to get out of this, well aware of what Prowl had said about not telling anybody.

"You didn't wrap the car in-"

"Plastic-wrap." Auri finished with a sigh.

"Yeah. How'd you know?"

"That's how Prowl figured it out, and how Bee figured it out." Auri said, shrugging her shoulders. "I'm guessing everybody will know now…"

"Is that so terrible?" Sides asked. An artist should always receive credit for his or her work, he thought.

"I work for Prowl. I should never have done it… it was deplorable to do so." Auri used Prowl's words, but she truly meant it. Her conscience had repeated it over and over ever since she'd painted the car.

"'_Deplorable'?_"

"As the law-enforcers, Prowl and I are to show ourselves as examples. And that wasn't a good example." She explained earnestly.

Sunny raised an optic-ridge in wonder. Sides made a face. "You pranked an idiot who was in dire need of being pranked!"

"I broke a rule that I ought to have upheld. I made a way for my office to be exposed to scorn and derision." Auri replied.

"Oh…" Sides said. Sunny cocked his head.

"See?"

The twins nodded. "I think I can understand that." Sunny said. Then they were sympathetically silent as the three of them walked along the road.

"Well, at least it was a great prank. Even MysteryMechC'sU commented, and he practically never comments."

"What?" Auri stopped at stared at them like they'd lost their processors.

"Oh! She doesn't know about the prank site!" Sides exclaimed to Sunny.

"Yeah, that's because she works for _Prowl_, okay?"

"Oh…"

"What are you mechs talking about?" Auri asked, slightly confused.

"There's a NEST site where prankers post pictures or stories about their pranks. It's all highly secret, and Prowl can't know about it."

"Oh."

"And I uploaded a picture of your prank to it. Everybody likes it a whole lot. This one user, MysteryMechC'sU, has only posted two pranks, and he only comments on the best ones."

"I guess I should be flattered then." Auri said. "Who is he?"

"We have no idea." Sides said. "Some bots have obvious usernames, like, UnseenXpertTrixter26."

Auri giggled. "That would be Mirage."

"Yup!" "And there's Ultraprankus."

"No!" Auri exclaimed in amazement.

"Yeah! Well, it's either Ultra Magnus, or someone trying to give him a hard time."

Auri laughed. She couldn't see stiff, straight-laced Ultra Magnus pranking anyone.

"But," said Sunny, "This MysteryMechC'sU bot is, like his name says, a mystery."

"MechC'sU… 'Sees you'… could he be a spy?" Auri asked.

"Maybe." Sides shrugged. "We've given up trying to figure out who it is. We're still trying to figure out who 'SweetSharpShootersMech' is, though."

"A sniper's mechfriend?" Auri asked.

"Eh… yeah… but we just have one femme sniper: Moonracer. And she has no mechfriend." Sides said. "That is," Sunny added, "That we know of."

Auri giggled. As a femme, she was privy to the secrets told in the femme's side of the bathhouse. It was Ratchet. "Oh, well." She said. "So much for that. What did he say, anyway?"

"He said, 'Ha!' and gave it nine stars out of ten."

Auri grinned. Ratchet liked her prank. How cool! She was secretly very pleased with herself, now that the part where Prowl lectured was over. She was quite happy with the effect it had had on the liaison. And, well, she had impressed a few bots, Ratchet included. Well, good. It was her first prank and her grand finally, so it ought to be good.

* * *

So, I'm working on a picture for last chapter, where the liaison is yelling about his car and Prowl and Auri are standing there gazing down at him. But it's not done yet; it might be up tomorrow, and if not tomorrow, then Sunday. I do have a new picture up, though. It has Soundwave in it; Soundwave and somebody's OC named Jackknife. I don't know her owner's FanFiction ID, just her deviantARt ID.

Link, if you'd like to see the picture:

http:/ cairistona. deviantart. com /#/ d3la63j

Enjoy! :D


	38. Chapter 38, Watch Out!

It's officially Prowl's day off now! But the focus will be somewhere else for most of this chapter. Next chapter, though, I promise, Prowl will be in the entire thing. :)

* * *

Chapter 38

**Watch Out! **

"Watch out!" The fearless young Autobot defender femme exclaimed, jumping behind a huge barricade, dragging her tiny companion with her. "We'll never get away from the Decepticons if they catch us here."

"Oh-no! It's a dead end."

"No, it's not! Look," She said eagerly, giving the barricade a hard shove. A crack of light appeared between it and the fortress wall. "A passageway! It's small, but I think we can fit."

"Yeah, yeah!"

"You first, I'll hold the Cons off."

"No, that's dangerous!"

"It's dangerous to just stay here!" The fearless young Autobot defender femme gestured madly. "GO!"

The fearless young Autobot defender femme gave her companion a good boost, and she went up, landing with a soft thump on top of the barricade.

Then the fearless young Autobot defender femme wedged herself between the barricade and the wall and painstaking made her way to the crack of light. "Thanks for the hand up," she grumbled.

"Sh! I'm targeting some Cons."

"Well, don't shoot unless they do!"

"I'm not a dummy, you silly."

The fearless young Autobot defender femme was almost through the crack…!

"Oof… Ug… mfff…! Oowwwww!" The fearless young Autobot defender femme was only Auri.

The great barricade was only the couch. The fortress wall was only her quarters' wall.

"I'm stuck!" Auri squeaked. Her companion was only a little Cybertronion doll.

Auri moaned. Her door-wings were caught between the couch and the wall and she couldn't climb up any further.

There was a pause.

She tried to go back down, but her wings had gotten wedged the other way as well. "Ugh!" she grunted, kicking her feet. She was definitely stuck.

"Oof." She wriggled a little. "Nohhhhh!" she squirmed harder.

Then she stopped and hung there panting a little.

Well.

She was going to be very embarrassed when Ironhide came back to his quarters.

She was going to have to explain WHY she was wedged between the couch and the wall. And her doll was lying on the couch where anybody could see her.

There was not a single bot she could intercom for help. There were the twins, but then they would find out that she still played with a doll, and they might laugh at her for being such a sparkling. It was sparkling-ish enough to play make-believe games without playing with a doll as it was. They were in the brig, anyway. Bee might be understanding, but he was off-base.

She sighed. She kicked her feet and swung a little.

She could pretend that the cons had caught her.

"OUWWWWW!" she howled. "Noooo!"

(If she disturbed anybody, they would come over and yell at her through the door, and she would yell back that she was stuck, and they could come in get her unstuck, and that would solve her problem.)

"Where are the co-ordinates of the base?" a Decepticon questioner demanded. He was two times uglier and three times meaner than the average Decepticon questioner, but fearless young Autobot defender femme wasn't afraid.

"I'll never tell you!" The fearless young Autobot defender femme snapped.

"Tell me now."

"I'll tell you something else."

"Grrrrrrr. What?"

"Your mother was a freezer and your father was one, too. But all the ice on Arctic could never make you cool!"

"ARG!"

The fearless young Autobot defender femme snickered derisively.

"Enough! You will tell me what the co-ordinates of the base are, or I will slowly tear you apart."

"NOOOOOO!" The fearless young Autobot defender femme was not quite so fearless anymore, "NOOOOO!"

"I'll count to three."

"NOOOOO!"

"One."

She kicked very hard and thrashed around.

"Two."

She kept at it.

"Three. Ahhhh, tear time."

"I think not!" The fearless young Autobot defender femme crowed triumphantly, kicking out a final time. She kicked out, and the restraints broke, releasing her.

Auri fell, banging her limbs and wings on the wall or the couch, landing hard on her rump and bumping her head.

"Ouch!" She fussed, "Ow…" She wasn't hurt that bad, actually. She got up.

The fearless young Autobot defender femme was no longer in danger from the Decepticon questioner; he'd been shot by her companion from above.

"Good work!" she called up. "Hey, I'm coming up."

"Don't get stuck again."

"You betchya I won't." The fearless young Autobot defender femme replied.

Auri climbed up the back of the couch again, this time not getting stuck. She reached the top and slid down to sit beside her doll.

"Think we're safe for the moment?" she asked.

"You never know."

"Hmm, you've been hit." She observed, "Not badly though. I'll take care of it."

She sat quietly and gently tended the "wound" on the doll's arm, holding the little blue figure between her knees as she worked. It was the little Transformer doll that she had held close so many times over the years. Even when she had left most of her things behind in various moves, she had never left the doll. It was metal and shaped much like an average sparkling. Its arms and legs were moveable, though floppy enough to cuddle, and careful adjusting would make the little thing stand on its own.

"You're so special," she cooed lovingly, switching over to a different game. "You're my sparkling. Always, always. I'm gonna keep you forever." She cuddled the doll and petted its back, mimicking Ironhide and Chromia when they held her.

"Lullaby to the smallest of sparks," she sang softly. It was the lullaby that her old guardian had sung to her every night that he had been with her. "Shine forever… I would that peace light your face…"

She trailed off and cocked her head. Then she hid doll under her blanket and frowned.

Somebody had just hacked the door-lock and was opening the door to her guardians' quarters. Auri dropped down and crawled under the couch, peering out cautiously.

OoOOooOooOOoO

It had taken Flareup a moment to recall the key code, but once she finally remembered it, getting in was easy. She smiled, pleased with herself as she slipped into Chromia and Ironhide's quarters.

Red and orange femme glanced around easily, remembering the good times she had shared with her mentor and said mentor's spark-mate. (or, slave, whichever she wanted.)

There was something left on the table. She sauntered over to see. It was a data-pad. Picking it up, she examined it more closely.

"Hm," She mused. "Butterfly and flower stickers? Ain't Ironhide's." she muttered, amused. "Ain't Chromia's either…" she wasn't so amused anymore.

She moved quickly and went to the bedroom.

Everything seemed right and in order here… definitely Ironhide and Chromia's.

Her heels clicked as she went back into the living room, back to the table. She picked up the data-pad again, perplexed by it.

"Hey!" a small bot snapped, coming out from under the couch. "Who do you think you are, and what are you doing in MY quarters?" she demanded, folding her arms lightly as Prowl did.

Flareup almost laughed, but the little one looked so serious. She retrained herself to a smile and set the data-pad down. "_Your_ quarters?" she asked, "These are Ironhide and Chromia's quarters."

"That is beside the point." The small bot said stonily. "There are not _yours_. You shall leave them immediately." She ordered with another Prowl-like gesture.

"I'm prrretty sure I can stay." Flareup said quite certainly, her optics twinkling. Who was this femme-ling, ordering her about and mimicking Prowl? Oh, surely Prowl didn't make a sparkling with somebody! That would be-

"Get out." The small bot said firmly, tucking her chin as Ironhide did when he really meant something and wasn't being obeyed. Oh, she copied the big bots. No, she definitely wasn't Prowl's. She was awfully cute though.

Flareup smiled in a friendly manner. "Who do you belong to?" she asked, crouching down a little.

"Out." The small bot said in no uncertain tone.

"Aw, you ain't gonna be friendly?" she asked.

"I am not friendly to intruders." The small bot said.

"I ain't an intruder though," Flareup said, straightening and taking a step towards the small bot, ready to explain.

"Back." The small bot ordered whipping a pistol out.

Flareup stepped back in surprise, her optics widening then narrowing swiftly. Whoa, defensive little femme with a pistol? Not good! "Hang on, let's not start with gun-play."

"Good idea." The little femme said, taking a step forward. "So, that means you leave by the time I count to three." These were Ironhide's tactics.

"Whoa-oh, little bit. Huh-uh!" Flareup took a step forward.

"I'll just shoot now then."

Flareup hit the floor as she heard the trigger click. Above her, the table got a scorch mark.

"Why, you crazy little twist of scrap-metal!" she yelled, shocked. She lunged towards the little femme, intending to take the pistol away from the wild little thing.

The femme-ling jumped under the couch. Flareup was too big to follow quickly.

"You do NOT shoot at other Autobots!" She scolded, crouching down to glare at her.

"_**I**_ do!" the femme-ling shouted at her. "_I do_ -when they come breaking into my quarters!"

'She's off her processors,' Flareup said to herself. 'I can't leave her running around, waving that pistol, and acting like a mini over-energized femme version of Ironhide!'

"Tell yah what," she said to the femme-ling in an appeasing tone, "You let me have that pistol, and I'll go away and not bother you anymore."

"No!" came the answer in a dogged tone.

"Come on," she coaxed, feeling concerned about this little wild one.

There was a silence. A rather long silence. Then a reply came.

"You'll have to drag me out from under here first." The femme-ling sounded defiant.

"So be it." Flareup dropped to her belly, shoved her toe against the floor to get under the couch, and grabbed for the femme-ling's leg. It was dark under the couch, and she grabbed empty air.

She heard a soft scuffle and a sliding sound. 'ARG!' The femme-ling had climbed up the back of the couch and was…

Flareup writhed and jerked herself out from under the couch. That femme-ling had laid a trap for her!

"Ngh." She grunted as her helm got caught on the edge. She twisted and came up.

A little pink foot flew at her face. She ducked swiftly and grabbed the little foot. She gave it a firm yank, making the little femme fall on her rump on the couch

"You-" she started to say, but twin knives came flying at her. "AH!" she let go the foot and parried the blow with a shielded vambrace, grabbing the hilts of the knives in one smooth motion.

The little femme howled unhappily when she pulled them out of her grip.

"Oh," Flareup was taken aback. She stared as the little femme hid her face and started to whimper and sob. The little femme had been acting so fierce and heartless only seconds before; Flareup hadn't computed that taking the knives would make her cry.

"Hey," she said gently, "Hey, don't cry. I ain't takin' them away forever. I'm gonna give them to your guardian, okay? You can't just go around swinging them at bots."

The femme-ling wailed unhappily some more and rubbed her optics.

"Aw…" Flareup reached out a rubbed the little femme's arm, "C-mon, I don't mean to be unkind."

No reaction, only more sobs as the femme-ling tucked her feet under herself.

"Hey," she scooted closer and started to slip an arm around the poor little femme-ling.

The "poor little femme-ling" gashed Flareup's arm with a talons that sprung from her vambrace before launching herself at Flareup.

Flareup fell backwards, the femme-ling on top of her. There wasn't a hint of tears in the smaller femme's optics.

Tricked! Tricked by the very trick her mentor had taught her centuries ago!

She growled with frustration and engaged the smaller femme in a hand to hand scuffle. It was easy to wrestle the smaller femme into submission. In only a couple moments, she was sitting lightly on top of the smaller femme and holding her by the wrists.

The smaller femme glared up at her.

"You're a real brat." Flareup told her. "Chromia and Ironhide are old friends of mine. Chromia was my mentor for ages, and I still look up to her as one."

"Anyone can say things like that if they want so," the smaller femme said, trying to thrash around a little. "Liar!"

"I'm no liar!" Flareup growled down at her. "I oughta bust your after-plating." She really had no intention of harming the little scrap, though. She was really quite impressed with what she'd seen.

"Ironhide would bust yours ten times worser!" The smaller femme yelled.

Wow. There was no way to counter that.

"You wanna talk?" Flareup asked, hoping to coax the femme-ling into a friendly conversation.

"I want my knives back!"

"I'll give 'em to your guardian."

"I want my knives back…!" The femme-ling started to cry, to really cry, no fake tears at all.

Flareup sighed. She really should have left when this spunky little bot had ordered her out. She couldn't well leave her alone though. She seemed a little crazy.

::Flareup to Prowl.:: she sent over the com.

::Prowl here.:: the Second-in-Command sounded guarded, pouty, and half-awake.

::Yeah, there's a crazy little femme here in Chromia and Ironhide's quarters. She tried to shoot me, she drew twin knives on me, she's got talons on her vambraces… she wants me gone, so I'm gonna leave, but I feel a bit concerned about leavin' her alone. Y'know?::

::Leave. I will come tend to her immediately.:: Prowl replied, sounding capable, confident, and awake now.

::Thanks, Prowlie! Thanks a bunch! Flareup out.::

"Y'know what?" Flareup said to the little femme. "I think I'll just leave. Okay?"

The tears slowed and the smaller femme blinked up at her.

"Would that be good?" Flareup asked, "Would that make things better?"

"Uh-huh," the smaller femme said, nodding a bit.

"Okay." Flareup got up carefully. Then pain stabbed her ankle and a kick in the other foot brought her down. She swore, adding, "YOU BRAT!"

The smaller femme dropped on top of her and pinned one of her arms down. Flareup grabbed with her free hand, met nothing, then tried rolling over.

"OUCH! YOU BITE?" she screamed.

"AND I use stun-guns."

Flareup heard the gun power up. "_**PROWL**_!" She screamed. Where on base was that bot?

The smaller femme paused. Flareup grabbed for the stun-gun and got her hand on it. She jerked it, but the smaller femme had a surprisingly strong grasp. She tried twisting it. The smaller femme tried to jerk it away, but she held on. Then the smaller femme bit her finger again.

"_**OWWW**_" Flareup screamed, "**PROWL! GET HERE ALREADY! **_**PROWL!**__"_

"Calm down." Prowl said, shoving the door back. "Aurion, give that to me."

Flareup released the gun so that "Aurion" could give it to him. Then she heard the soft click of the gun's trigger, and she twitched as her system was knocked out.

* * *

Okay, the Liaison and his painted up car are on public display now. :) And you get to see how Auri looks when she's in policebot mode.

http :/ cairistona. deviantart. com /#/ d3ljpu3


	39. Chapter 39, Taking Off

Hi! I would have had this chapter up sooner, but the internet was down all day! :/ Not happy about that, but now it's back! :) Enjoy!

And it's kind of late now, and I have to get up early in the morning, so instead of replying to your reviews individually, I'll just say one thing here. "Thank-you! :D Your reviews make me so happy, and I'm just delighted that you like my story So much!"

* * *

Chapter 39

**Taking Off**

Prowl stared grimly down at Auri as she held to gun out to him. If she had been his own sparkling, he would have turned her around right there and spanked her twice. But she wasn't. She was his subordinate; that would be inappropriate. And she was Ironhide's sparkling; the weapons mech would dismember him.

He took the weapon. She looked a little guilty. She had never, ever outright gone against his orders.

"You knew I wanted you to hand over the gun before you shot her, did you not?" Prowl asked sternly.

Auri shifted her optics away. "Yes, sir." She said, not sounding very repentant.

"In essence, you deliberately disobeyed me."

"Yes, commander."

It was completely unacceptable.

"Hold out your hand." He told her.

She was a little puzzled, but she did as told. He took her hand and turned it palm up then rapped the stun-gun down where he knew it would cause some pain without causing damage. She flinched in surprise.

"Do not do so again." He ordered her, releasing her hand.

"Yes, sir." She said, eyeing him in amazement. She found it hard to believe that he had actually struck her. But, he had, and her hand smarted a little. She rubbed her palm cautiously. It wasn't bad.

"Aurion," Prowl said. She looked up at him. He was holding her gun out for her to take.

She took it carefully. He nodded, and she started to put it away.

"Give it to me."

She paused then gave it back to him. He took it then offered it back to her.

She took it slowly, watching him. What was he up to?

"Put it away." He told her. She put it away.

"Give it to me."

She held it out to him. He took it then held it out again.

"Take it." He told her.

She obeyed.

"Change hands."

She obeyed.

"Give it to me."

She obeyed, and Prowl took the gun and looked at it.

"Take it." He said again.

She obeyed.

"Sit down and clean it."

She sat down like a little automaton and took out her cleaning kit. She peeked up at him as she began taking apart the gun. He nodded and let some of the sternness go away. Auri knew she was forgiven, and she was content.

Prowl repositioned Flareup and began cleaning and bandaging her arm.

"What happened, Aurion?" Prowl asked, sounding more curious than demanding.

"I was quietly amusing myself when she hacked the door-lock and came sauntering in here." Auri said. "I went under the couch, and she looked at my data-pad on the table, and muttered, and went into Ironhide and Chromia's room. Then she came back and picked up my data-pad again. Then I came out and demanded to know who she was and what she was doing." Auri frowned. "She acted like she owned the place and won't tell me anything. So I ordered her out, and she wouldn't go out, so I took out my pistol."

Prowl betrayed no dismay, despite his innermost feelings.

"She didn't believe me, so I shot and hit the table while she ducked. And then she was _mad_! She yelled at me; I went under the couch. She wanted to take my pistol away. She said she'd go away if I let her take my pistol. I was not about to believe _that_, nor was I gonna let her do that, so I told her she would have to get it herself." Auri smirked happily. "She was too big and got stuck under the couch while I climbed up the back.

"Then I went over the top and down the front, and I kicked at her when she came up. And she grabbed my foot." She frowned. "When I snapped my knives out to make her back up, she ducked and grabbed them and took them away from me." Auri pouted.

"I hardly blame her." Prowl said drily. "Go on."

"I play-acted crying; that made her go soft and drop her guard. So I jumped on her. –That's when I scratched her- And then we wrestled.

"She got on top, and then I started to cry for real. She was unhappy about that, though, and offered to leave. She asked if it would make things better if she left and I told her yes. When she got up, I stabbed and kicked her in the ankle and jumped on top of her. She tried to roll on me, but I bit her finger. And then I got out my stun gun. She started yelling for you, and then you came."

"None too soon, apparently." Prowl remarked. "Why on earth did you not just let her leave?" he asked.

"If some random know-it-all broke into your private quarters and touched stuff, wouldn't you retain her for questioning?" Auri asked, her optics wide with wonder at such a question.

Prowl paused before answering. "Yes." he admitted.

Auri spread her hands out. "There you have it." She said.

"Why did you not intercom somebody, though, when you realized that there was an intruder?" he asked.

"My intercom wasn't working." Auri said sadly. "Again…" she murmured.

"Do not fret about it." Prowl told her, not wanting anymore tears. "Ironhide will be well amused, and Flareup may be, too."

"Flareup?" Auri asked, her optics widening; she'd heard about Flareup.

"This is Flareup." Prowl said, motioning to the femme.

Auri tilted her head to the side. "Uh-oh." She said.

"Uh-oh?" Prowl echoed questioningly.

"Chromia was Flareup's mentor and guardian." Auri said gloomily.

"Yes, she was."

Auri sighed and handed her gun over for inspection.

Prowl looked it over. "Good." He said and handed it back. "I am sure Flareup will forgive you and be friends."

"I called her a liar."

"She will understand." Prowl said.

Auri didn't look too certain.

"She called me over the intercom." Prowl said, "She expression concern for your well-being. I think she will want be friends." he stated.

"Well… I _would_ like to be friends. I sorta messed up though."

Prowl considered this and tried to figure out how to explain it in a way that would make sense to her. He had it.

"You would say Bumblebee 'messed up' when you two met, would you not?" He asked.

Auri nodded.

"Yet, you were very willing to forgive him and be friends after the situation was explained, were you not?"

Auri nodded again. "Yes…" then she smiled.

Prowl spread his hands out. "There you have it." He said, copying her exactly and making her smile.

Then he gazed down at Flareup. He decided that he would wait for her to come on, instead of bringing her on. He had the time to wait.

"How is your day off going?" Auri asked. She had noted the slight, subtle down-shift of his door-wings.

Prowl paused. "I hate it." He said honestly, sounding slightly miserable.

Auri looked at him with surprise. She had been enjoying her day off. True, she'd been a little sad that Bee and the twins weren't around to hang out with, but she had other forms of amusement.

"Why?" she asked.

"There is nothing to like about it." He said.

"Oh." So, that explained a whole lot. She looked a little exasperated for just a second. Then she tried a different question. "What have you been doing?"

"Nothing." Prowl said, starting to put the things back in his first-aid kit.

"_Nothing?_" she stared at him. "You've just stood and stared at a wall ever since you woke up this morning?"

He twitched his wings. "I laid and stared at the wall." He said flatly. She looked at him askance. He went on. "Then I took breakfast, after which I took inventory of my weapons, none of which needed to be cleaned." He seemed a little annoyed at the weapons. If any of them _had_ needed to be cleaned, he would have had _something_ to do. "I had started to walk to the beach, but then Flareup intercommed me, needing help with you." He finished.

"Oh." Auri said. She had no idea what to say after that. He really had done nothing. Surely there was something he could do, though…! "Isn't there something you can do that you like?" she asked after a pause.

He shook his head. "I like my work." He stated.

"Do you like to write?"

"My computer was confiscated." He said.

"Err… read?"

"My data-pads were confiscated, too."

"Uh…" what on earth could he possibly do without a computer or a data-pad

"Do not bother yourself with it." Prowl said, dumping out the neatly arranged first-aid kit. Auri raised her optics-ridges.

"Days off are supposed to be a treat, Prowl."

"I have heard that." He was putting everything back in neatly now. "But they are punishment."

"Uh? Punishment?" she was very perplexed. "Punishment for what, exactly?"

"It is punishment for working many hours. See, Prime says that I obsess over my work and that I neglect myself. He views that as wrong; thus he punishes me for it."

Auri rubbed her head, trying to get that through her processors. He had some strange notions for time to time, and this was certainly one of them.

"However, I am simply efficient at my work and enjoy it, and I may get a little tired from time to time, but I do not neglect myself. Thus, he is punishing me unjustly. That makes it all the more unpleasant. It would not irritate me so much if I was actually being punished for misbehaving."

Auri snickered. "As if you would misbehave."

"I have misbehaved before." Prowl said, irritated at the false image of absolute goodness, but bothered that he had to break the illusion.

"If you hate your day off so much, why don't you ask Prime to not give you one?" Auri asked innocently.

"I have tried many times to do so. He always refuses."

"Can you get him to go half-way?" Auri asked. "Have you asked if you can take half off two days instead on all off one day?"

Prowl gazed at her in wonder. "I have not…" he liked that idea. He reached for his data-pad then frowned. "He confiscated my data-pad."

"Mine's on the table; you can borrow it." Auri offered, delighted that she could help and cheer up the idolized commander.

The idolized commander eagerly went and retrieved that data-pad; his optics swept over the butterfly and flower stickers, but he was too glad for its use to mind its condition.

Returning, he sat down and began swiftly writing his petition. Auri watched.

Several minutes passed then he looked satisfied. A tap of a button sent the document to Prime.

"Thank-you." Prowl said, meeting Auri's optics.

"You are welcome." Auri said, smiling.

Prowl looked down at the data-pad when the screen changed. He frowned. "'I have one word for you, Prowl.'" He read aloud. "'No.'"

"Aw…" Auri cooed sympathetically.

"I will send it again in ten minutes." Prowl said doggedly.

Auri smiled. She knew this tactic well now. He had passed more than one law by this method of not accepting no for an answer. It usually worked for him.

It didn't, however, work for her on Ironhide. She had tried it once. And Ironhide had squelched it quickly.

Prowl watched the little clock on the data-pad corner. Auri watched him in amusement. They waited ten minutes, and then Prowl sent the petition again.

"'I said, "no."'" Prowl read. "Hmm."

"Waiting another ten minutes?" Auri asked.

"Yes." Prowl said.

They waited nine minutes. Then a message came through from Prime. Prowl sighed, and his door-wings dipped. "'I know what you are up to, Prowler, and it will not work this time.'" Prowl read. "If you sent that petition in again, I will…'" he stopped. Auri cocked her head.

"He will what?" she asked.

"He will send me in for my physical check up." Prowl said through his teeth. "He knows I hate that." He handed the data-pad to Auri, feeling rather defeated.

Auri took it and looked the document over. It seemed like a very good and reasonable petition to her. "Hmm."

Prowl looked down at Flareup. Flareup should have come back on sooner than this. He checked her system. She had gone from being knocked to being in recharge. She must have been tired from her mission.

"Prowl, will you get in trouble if _I_ send it?" Auri asked.

Prowl smiled at her thoughtfulness. "I believe so." He said gently.

She sighed deeply.

Then she looked at Flareup. "Is she okay? Should she be back on by now?"

"She's in recharge."

"Oh."

Prowl resumed the sorting of his first-aid kit. "Shall we wake her and explain things to her? Or shall we let her sleep?" he asked.

Auri was a little amazed that he asked her instead of deciding himself. "You are asking me?" she asked hesitantly.

He nodded. "Yes. It makes little difference to me what we do, but it will make a difference to you since these are your quarters."

"Oh." Auri said. She considered it for a couple moments. "Since she needs sleep, we should let her sleep." She decided. "I'll leave, and we can explain things to her later when she wakes. Good?" she asked.

"Good." Prowl told her. "We should put her on the couch though, instead of leaving her on the floor."

Auri nodded. She and Prowl rose, and Prowl crouched to pick up the other femme. Auri got a spare data-pad to write a note on. Then she stopped and turned in distress as she remembered something. She looked to Prowl.

Prowl had set Flareup on the couch and was moving the blanket. 'Too late!' Auri realized.

Prowl halted when he saw the doll gazing up at him with blink-y blue optics.

"That's mine." Auri rushed over in distress, but Prowl was sort of between her and the doll. She whimpered instinctively. Prowl took a hasty step back and scooted the doll towards her. She took it protectively and hugged it close, watching Prowl suspiciously as he settled Flareup in a more comfortable position.

Prowl hid his amazement while he tended Flareup. He'd had no idea that Auri was still so young. He'd known that she was very young, but not _that_ young. He knew she could be quite vulnerable at times, but he'd seen how indomitable she could be. Taking on Flareup for trespassing, even, showed how much 'nerve' she had. But, poor femme-ling, she had cried because he'd gotten between her and her doll. It sent a twist of pain into his spark.

He finished with Flareup and turned to Auri. She was still holding her doll.

"Where are you going to go?" he asked, knowing that she shouldn't stay around while Flareup was in recharge.

"I do not know yet." Auri said. She sounded very detached and was staring down at her doll.

Prowl winced inwardly. Somehow something had triggered a regression in her and sent her into sparkling mode. She would need gentle handling to coax her out of it.

"What is her name?" Prowl asked, guessing that he could reach her by working through the toy.

"It sounds funny translated into English…" She said. Prowl waited. After a moment or two, Auri said softly, "Ever-Near."

"It is a good name." he said. It was a beautiful name in Cybertronian. It tugged at his spark though, reminding him that she had been neglected. Where on earth was Ironhide? "Does she want to come with us?"

Auri looked up at him. Then a smile played on her mouth. She giggled and ducked her head in embarrassment. "She… um, where are we going?" Prowl was encouraged, seeing her perk up and come out of the little shell that she'd retreated into.

"I do not know." He grasped vainly for some idea of where they could go. "Ah… where would you –she- like to go?"

"Um…" Auri scanned her memory; Prowl had been going somewhere when Flareup had called him… "…the beach."

"That sounds good." Prowl said. Then he realized that that had been his original destination.

"She's never been to the beach." Auri said. "And I've only been once. And it was dark then."

"It is decided then; we go to the beach." Prowl said.

Auri hid the doll away in subspace, and they left the quarters in car mode.

"I'll meet you there," Auri said. "So some of those people won't start smirking at us." She went off a different way before Prowl could reply.

'Oh. I did not know she realized that.' Prowl thought to himself.

He found Auri parked by the beach. She transformed when he came near. He halted and transformed as well.

"I… I f-forgot something…" Auri said, looking uncomfortable.

Prowl felt his guard rising. "Did you?" he dared to ask. What on earth could a little femme forget? Could it be disturbing?

"I… don't like the ocean water." It was easier for her to say that then it was to admit that she was afraid of the ocean.

"We will not go that close to it." Prowl reassured her.

"Alright."

They walked out onto the sand, Prowl slowing his usual brisk stride and Auri hopping now and then.

"What does one do on the beach?" Auri asked, eyeing the fierce waters as they came into view.

"I sun myself and watch the waves." Prowl said. "Others race in the sand, build sand castles, play in the water... Humans go surfing and collect seashells."

"Building sandcastles sounds fun." Auri said hopefully.

"I suppose it may have its charms…" oh, no, she surely did not think he was going to build a sandcastle with her…! Sandcastles were completely illogical. They served no useful purpose, and they were gone as soon as the next tide rolled in.

She smiled winningly. He shook his head. "You may if you wish, but I will not." He told her.

She nodded, well used to him and his stiff ways. She looked up sandcastles on the internet and moved carefully towards the sand that was damper. Prowl seated himself on a small dune and watched the waves.

The waves always mesmerized him. Never once did they come back along the same line, never once did they follow a logical pattern. Time and time again he tried to calculate where they would reach, but never once did they do what he thought they would; they either fell short, or they exceeded. The motion always repeated, but never was it exact.

Auri seemed quite content with her business of building a sandcastle. She packed sand on the walls and brought handfuls of fresh, damp sand from near the sea to add to the structure.

Prowl refocused on the fascinating waves. Clouds built up near the horizon and floated away. The wind never stopped. The wind was another fascinating thing…

The black and white patrol car bot relaxed, leaning back on the heels of his hands. Actually, this was quite nice. He sighed, contented.

* * *

I have a picture for last chapter, "Watch Out!", on deviantART. It's actually a comic instead of the usual pictures I draw.

http: / cairistona. deviantart. Com /#/ d3n0k3t

And I also did a pretty cool picture of Soundwave, too. It's in the gallery once you're on my deviantART page.

Well, I'm not going to be here for a while. I'm going to camp, and then to visit some family in Michigan. I AM GOING TO SEE LAKE SUPERIOR! XD It's going to be awesome! So, Prowl and Auri aren't going to be the only ones on a beach. :) Take care, enjoy the stories and pictures, review, and I'll be completely back by August. (I think I'm going to miss you guys… you've become like friends. :)


	40. Chapter 40, Splash!

I'm back! That was a really, REALLY awesome road trip! I swam in Lake Michigan, and I swam in Lake Superior. Both lakes were stunning! It was an awesome experience!

And I bought my first Transformers toy! I got a little Ironhide from Wal-Mart in Michigan. He's cute and cool at the same time! XD

Welcome to the couple of new reviewers! :) I'm so delighted and pleased to get your feedback! :D

Okay, okay, on to the story… :)

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Chapter 40

**Splash**

Prowl's reverie of the ocean was broken by a piercing scream.

"YEEEEEEE! EEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!" Auri was shrieking. Prowl rose, his optics sweeping towards the femme-ling. She was prancing and shaking her hand frantically. He went over quickly though he was not alarmed. She saw him and ran to him like a distressed sparkling.

"A-a-a _thing_ was in the sand!" she howled. "A nasty crawling thing that tried to get in my gears when I pick upped it by accident!" she wailed.

She was completely overreacting; he wouldn't tolerate that either in the office or out. "Calm down." he ordered firmly.

She obeyed and tucked her chin.

"Was it a biological thing?" Prowl asked more gently.

She nodded.

"It was a sand crab." He stated.

"A sand crab?' she echoed.

"Yes. It will not hurt you." He said and turned to go back to where he'd been sitting.

"Oh." She said, accessing the internet to find out more about the thing. It was harmless, and she said so.

"Indeed." Prowl murmured as he left. It was amazing the amount of energy she could put into her reactions to things.

"What would happen if I threw this handful of wet sand at you?" Auri asked. She was over the sand crab scare and on to mischief. She played with Sunny and Sides and Bee; she wanted to at least try to play with Prowl.

Prowl paused, trying to understand her question. Nobody threw sand at him… he had no idea what would happen …it did not compute.

"I… I… do not know." He said, half-turning to answer her. "It does not happen."

"It has not happened yet, you mean." she said, a playful look in her optics.

Then it clicked in his processors what she'd meant. "Oh, no. Do not throw that at me." He ordered.

"Give me one good reason why." She said, grinning.

Prowl paused. He would not tolerate the humiliation of having sand thrown at him. She had said that she did not like the water, so that would be a good deterrent. "I will put you in the ocean if you do." He told her.

Auri cocked her head. He could not put her in the ocean without going in himself, she reasoned, and mechs hated water, particularly cold water. (Or so she thought. She was under that impression that whatever Ironhide did not like, no mech liked. How wrong she was.) She concluded that Prowl probably wouldn't push her in, even if she did throw the sand at him.

He had already turned and was sifting back to his dune by the time she had come to her conclusion.

*_Splat_*

Prowl froze. Auri had good aim.

"Aurion!" he snapped.

She giggled.

He turned and came back frowning. "I was serious." He said, displeased with her behavior.

"It's your day off, Prowl. You're not supposed to be serious." She laughed.

He took her by the arm and led her down to the water as she giggled at him. The wave receded, rolling away before them. Then the next one came curling towards them. Auri stopped giggling as it approached. Then she gasped.

The wave crashed down around the two bots, cold and strong. Auri screamed. It only splashed up to her waistline, but she shrieked in terror and tried to climb up Prowl to get away from it. Prowl looked horrified and completely confused as he picked her up. She kept screaming and wailing even as the water drained away. She was shaking and shuddering; her entire frame was trembling as she clung tightly to him, her arms around his neck. She was crying now.

Prowl speculated and calculated reasons and explanations for Auri's reaction as he carried her away from the water. Quickly, fortunately, he realized what had happened. She had told a half-truth. She didn't 'not like' the ocean water as she had said; she was absolutely terrified of it. Prowl snarled at himself silently but violently; he always took things so literally, -when would he ever remember to learn?

"Sh… sh…" he hushed Auri, but she continued to sob and tremble.

He set her gently on the warm dry sand, sitting down beside her, never taking his arm from around her.

"I am sorry." He said gently. "I am sorry, so very sorry."

She still shuddered, her little form racked by sobs. He looked around, desperate and bewildered.

"You said you only didn't like it," he said softly, "You didn't say it terrified you. I never, _never_, _never_ would have done that if I'd know it would scare you like that."

She was still crying but not quite as hard as before.

"I'm so sorry, little Aurion." He said, trying again. He slipped his other arm around her. Ironhide always made things better for Auri by giving her a hug.

He wasn't Ironhide. It didn't work.

"Sh, sh…" he rocked her ever so slightly and rubbed her door-wing. "It will be alright. You suffered no physical harm… I know that doesn't matter much to you now…"

His door-wings drooped very, very low.

"Is there anything I can do for you…?" he asked softly.

She shook her head, still crying.

He tried to cuddle her against his shoulder like Ironhide would, but she wouldn't cuddle.

"I'm sorry… " he murmured again, "I would never terrify you on purpose. I never meant to hurt you."

She kept crying. Decepticons were easier to handle.

"…would you be happier if I went away?" he asked, feeling like a terrible tyrant. It was an unusual feeling and one he didn't like.

She shook her head.

"Alright; I will stay." He sighed, relieved that she hadn't said yes.

She finally leaned against him, resting her head on his shoulder.

He saw that as a good sign. He kept rubbing her door-wing and cuddling her. Eventually the tears stopped falling, and she quieted down to merely whimpering softly now and then.

"I don't want you to be sad…" Prowl murmured. He searched to find some word of praise that would cheer her, knowing that praise worked miracles with Auri. "I like how you are always so ready to smile."

Auri stopped crying. Her emotion-core warmed with wonder; Prowl had said that he liked how she was always to ready to smile…?

She tilted her head up and looked up at him. She'd never seen him look so sad before. He saw her looking at him and tried to smile.

She put her head back down. She felt so torn up. The wave had terrified her almost more than the Decepticon attack she'd experienced when she'd first arrived to earth. And Prowl had subjected her to it.

She pulled away from Prowl.

"Aurion…" he started.

"Why did you do that to me?" she asked, sitting away, out of reach. Tears started to trickle down her face again.

"Y-you said 'I don't like ocean water.' I assumed you meant that you just didn't like it. I never presumed that you were scared of it. I never meant to hurt you like that. I meant to do something merely unpleasant, not cruel. Please understand…" He pleaded.

Auri rubbed her optics.

"I am so very sorry, Aurion; I cannot find enough words to express my sorrow." He hung his head, knowing he'd broken her trust in him and that it would be hard to get it back.

Auri sat, hugging her arms to herself protectively, trying to sort everything out.

Nothing was heard on the beach for some time except the roar of the waves and the gusting of the wind. Prowl found himself feeling sadder than he'd ever been in a long time.

He hadn't meant to hurt her. She knew that deep inside. She brought it up to the surface, and recalled everything good that he'd done for her. Hurting her had only been an accident.

She looked over at Prowl, and her spark felt wrung at how miserable he looked. She forgave him immediately. She still felt really hurt, but she forgave him and was ready to rebuild what had been broken. She just had to let him know it now.

"Prowl," Auri whispered.

Prowl blinked his optics and looked over at her. She sidled back to him and touched his shoulder.

"I f-forgive you." She whispered.

Prowl paused. "Thank-you." He said softly.

She nodded. She rubbed his arm gently to reassure him that it was alright.

"Will you ever trust me again?" he asked.

"I… I think so."

"I'll let you throw sand at me," he offered. He wanted to rebuild as well.

She giggled. Then she sniffled. Then she giggled again. "I don't want to throw sand at you anymore, Prowl."

He picked up a handful of the warm dry sand. He opened his hand slowly, letting the grains trickled down onto her foot.

It tickled her, and she smiled and wiggled her foot. Then she smiled up at him.

"Better?" Prowl asked, hopefully.

"Better." She confirmed nodding. They were quiet and still for a little while then Auri moved. "I want to finish my sandcastle." She said.

Prowl nodded and rose, holding out a hand to help her up. Once up, she scampered back to her sandcastle.

Prowl weighed things, thinking them over carefully, then he walked over to the construction site. Auri looked up.

"I…" He said, not knowing where to go after that. His logic processor was hurting a little. *_sandcastles=illogical_* it would flash at him. But he overrode it. There was something more to this than just building something with sand. It was rebuilding trust.

"I need to get some more wet sand." Auri said, rising and walking down to closer to the water. Prowl followed and crouched down near her to scoop up some sand as well.

"You are helping me?" Auri asked, her optics widening in wonder.

Prowl nodded.

She smiled, delighted.

They went back to the castle.

"Where's Ever-Near?" Prowl asked. Then he felt slightly ridiculous for asking about her doll.

"She went back home." Auri said seriously. "She doesn't like the sand."

"Oh." He said sheepishly. Auri met his optics with a smile. It was a sweet smile that told him that it meant a lot to her that he asked even if it was silly, and that she would never tell that he had.

Together they worked on the sandcastle. Auri sifted out some seashells to poke into the walls for adornment. Prowl struggled with the concept of making something out of sand, but he managed to overcome it and stuck a piece of drift wood in the front of the castle, over the door. Auri grinned at him.

They went down near the water many times to get wet sand. Prowl watched Auri carefully each time she neared the water. She was still clearly terrified of it.

"Aurion," Prowl said, packing some more sand onto the west wall. "Were you always so scared of the sea?"

She lowered her head. It would be uncomfortable to answer truthfully, but she'd learned her lesson about halving the truth with Prowl. "I wasn't nearly so scared of it before today." She answered shyly.

Prowl felt like kicking himself. "I regret that more than I can say." He told her.

"It's alright." She said. "You didn't mean to."

They worked in companionable silence. It was much like the office, except they were making a sandcastle instead of working on paperwork.

Then Prowl looked more serious than usual.

"You will have to face and overcome this fear sometime." He said.

Auri looked at him quickly. "I know,"

He saw a new fear rising in her optics. "I swear I will not make you go in." he promised swiftly as he raised his hands. "It must be of your own will and when you feel that the time right."

The fear vanished, the trust coming back. "Thank-you, Prowl."

Prowl nodded.

They finished the sandcastle, and Auri smiled happily at it. Prowl considered it gravely.

"I am tired." He said. Dealing with her had been fatiguing.

"So, take a nap." Auri said lightly. "I'll watch your back; I'm not tired."

"I have a bad feeling of déjà vu." He stated, "You crying for hours, then me napping…"

"I promise I won't stun-gun any big mechs on top of you." She said, beaming cutely.

"Alright." Prowl went and lay down in the sand, resting his face on his folded arms and letting his door-wings relax. Auri began a second sandcastle.

She looked over a Prowl. "I could always bury you with sand." She said. Prowl was quite in recharge and didn't hear her. "And I could leave your wings uncovered and paint them like butterfly wings." She giggled aloud and grinned over her shoulder. She knew she would never do that to him. But it was amusing to consider.

She played happily for an hour before Prowl moved again. Then he got up and came over.

"Recharge well?" Auri asked, patting more wet sand on her castle.

"Yes." he said, looking around, wondering what he was going to go through next.

"Prowl?" she asked, looking up at him.

"Yes?"

"Will you go with me into the water?" she asked with an anxious little voice.

He nodded without hesitation.

She rose, and they went down closer to the water. Auri watched the waves come in for several minutes. Then she moved in closer so that they licked her feet gently right before they retreated back to the great ocean. She squealed and flinched, but Prowl kept a hand on her shoulder, and the waves were gone in a moment.

"Was that too bad?" Prowl asked.

She shook her head, but he could tell that she was started to tremble a little. He rubbed her shoulder.

"We can sit." He said. He coaxed her to sit in the wet sand; he sat beside her, and the little waves came and tickled their feet.

After a while, Auri started to giggle when the waves came in. Prowl relaxed. He knew he was going to have an awful time getting the sand out of his workings, but it would be worth it if he helped undo the damage he'd done.

Auri wriggled on her rump to scoot closer to the water. Prowl moved closer as well. The waters came higher. Slowly and carefully they moved closer and closer to the water over time.

Auri squealed when the waters hit her waistline. But it was a squeal of pleasure rather than a squeal of fear. Terror was no longer part of the picture. Prowl felt much better.

"Ooh, what's this?" Auri asked, catching a vine of seaweed.

"Seaweed." Prowl said, grimacing at the sight of her touching the plant.

"Is it bad to hold?" she asked, noting his face.

"No… just… just slimy and gross."

"Ooooh, Prowlie doesn't yike seaweeds." She teased, swinging it towards him. He stood his ground and wasn't amused. She smiled and tossed the plant back into the ocean. This was Prowl she was trying to tease, she reminded herself. Prowl didn't let himself get teased.

The next wave splashed in and rolled out.

"Are we going to have lots of sand stuck in our… our… um, parts after doing this?" Auri asked.

"Indubitably."

Auri giggled. "I like that word."

He knew that. "Invariably." He said, making her giggle some more.

More waves washed in and out, the bots sitting in silence and watching them.

"Aurion," Prowl said after a while.

"Yes?"

"Why on earth, if you were afraid of the water, did you throw that sand at me after I warned you that I would put you in the ocean it if you did?"

Auri put a sandy hand over her face. "Ugh." She groaned. "I assumed that because Ironhide doesn't like water that all mechs didn't like it, and that you wouldn't actually carry out the threat because you would have to get in the water if you did."

Prowl raised an optic-ridge. "That absolute defiance of logic gives me a head-ache."

"Poor Prowl,"

"Well, I have put up with worse."

He lapsed into silence again, basking in the sun.

"I feel very full…" Auri murmured.

"Sitting in the sun when you have solar-paneled wings will do that." Prowl replied, feeling the same way.

Auri sighed contentedly.

Then,

"Oh-uh…"

"Hm?"

"Ironhide's coming." Auri said, "I sense him here," she touched her chest over her spark. "He seems a little disturbed."

Prowl's defense systems came on, flying into high alert. Ironhide was going to be livid when he found out what Auri had been through at Prowl's hand, albeit unintentional.

"Do I look like I've been crying?" Auri asked, looking earnestly up at Prowl.

"I am afraid so…"

"Could it be that I got sand in my optics?" she asked hopefully. She knew, too, that Ironhide would not be pleased with Prowl.

"You cannot fool Ironhide."

Auri sighed. "I'm sorry, Prowl…"

Ironhide had been before a grim-faced committee all morning, giving account of all his "dangerous alien weapons of considerable destruction." Given that his collection was extensive, the meeting had dragged on for hours and hours. Part way through, he had sensed utter terror and panic coming from Auri, yet she had not called for him. Had she called, he would have dropped everything and run to her. As it was, he fought the desire to go to her, the grim-faced people threatening restrictions on his weapons the only thing that kept he from leaving. Her terror had lasted for some time before waning away slowly. It had come back after a while then waned again, and she seemed content. He was still anxious, though, wondering what had happened.

Once the meeting came to a close, a black GMC Topkick came speeding out of the building and made bee-line for the beach.

Ironhide transformed by the sand and plowed up the sand dunes. He sensed her tense up. Coming to the top of the dune, he halted and looked around until he saw Auri in her pink armoring.

…Sitting beside Prowl in the water?

Ironhide narrowed his optics, focusing in to the two bots. That was Auri, and that was Prowl, no doubt about it. Judging by the cock of their wings, they had been fairly content but had just gotten tense.

He wondered why and started down the dune towards them. Auri turned and smiled at him over her shoulder, and he waved to her. She returned his wave then said something to Prowl. Prowl seemed as reserved as ever but lowered his head to reply.

Auri got up and came over when Ironhide came near. She grimaced and giggled. "There's a lot of sand in me." She said, making a face.

Ironhide chuckled at her fondly.

"Did your meeting go well?" Prowl asked, having risen and come over as well.

"Yeah." Ironhide said, narrowing his optics. He could tell that Prowl was uneasy, almost afraid of him. He could tell that Auri was apprehensive of him as well. It was because of him that they had tensed up. He realized that it was his fault that they were uneasy, though he didn't know _why_ they were uneasy. He felt bad about that; he didn't want them to fear him in that manner. "Having you two been having fun?" he asked lightly.

Auri nodded eagerly, a smile blossoming on her face. "Oh, yes! Lots of fun!" she replied, grinning. "I made a sandcastle! And Prowl even helped me. And I made another one while he napped."

Ironhide searched her face. He knew she'd been crying. He couldn't ignore it. He crouched down, bracing himself with on knee on the sand. "What made you cry, my little one?" he asked gently.

Auri glanced over at Prowl. Prowl backed away so that he was quite surrounded by water. Ironhide won't venture into the sea unless hyper-enraged.

"I told Prowl that I didn't like ocean water." Auri said, lowering her head. "He threatened to push me in if I threw sand at him, but I didn't believe him." She looked up at her guardian earnestly. "It was all my fault. He never thought that I was scared of it. He didn't mean to terrify me." A tear slipped down her cheek.

Ironhide took her and hugged her. "Oh, oh, oh, my little one. I'm so sorry." He sent comfort to her over their bond. She sniffled and calmed down.

"Come here, Prowl." Ironhide said. Prowl waded out of the water cautiously.

"Don't hurt him…" Auri pleaded.

"I won't hurt him," Ironhide said.

Prowl came over. Ironhide put Auri down and rose, looking at Prowl thoughtfully.

"I plead ignorance." Prowl said, twitching his wings and ducking his head, feeling like a naughty sparkling who was going to be called to account.

Ironhide tilted his head back, laughing. "Ah, Prowl." He said seriously when his laughter had subsided. "You're a good bot." he told him. "I just wanted to praise you for being patient and understanding and sticking through the tears."

Prowl dipped his head contrarily. "I do not des-"

"Arg!" Ironhide grabbed Prowl and seated him sternly on the sand. "What did I tell you about accepting praise?"

"Shall I stun him for you?" Auri asked Prowl, teasing.

Prowl started to get to his feet. "No, not this time."

Ironhide shoved Prowl back down as the smaller bot started to get up.

"Ow-!" Prowl protested.

"You will accept praise when I give it to you." Ironhide ordered.

Prowl started to get up again. "But I am not des-"

Ironhide kicked him down.

Prowl growled as he sprawled face-down in the sand.

"I said, 'You will accept praise when I give it to you.'" Ironhide said sternly.

The Second-in-Command kicked a foot in frustration and pressed his forehead hard against his sand. "I am not deserving of praise!" he finally got the words out without getting stopped by Ironhide.

Ironhide sighed and crouched down by the downed bot. "You are, too, deserving of praise, Prowl." He said, touching his shoulder, "I know how you feel about being forced to take a day off. I know how you just want to sulk and isolate yourself when ordered to take a day off. To put Auri's need for companionship and entertainment before your desire for solitude is most kind, and to put up with her in her distressed state takes a whole lot of stuff that lots of bots don't have. You are, indeed, deserving of praise. You will accept it, and you won't tell me different." Ironhide ordered gently. "You got that?"

"Yes, sir." Prowl said, slightly muffled and quite disgruntled. "I will accept your praise." Then he added in a muttered undertone, "-as I do your abuse."

"Good." Ironhide said emphatically, missing the second part. He rubbed Prowl's shoulder. "I've got to go answer to another complaint committee. They don't like how I handle things."

"Imagine that." Prowl muttered, sore about the rough treatment he'd received.

"What?" Ironhide asked, not quite catching what he said in the wind.

Prowl lifted his head and spit out a little sand. "Unpleasant, that." he said audibly. "Good luck with them."

Ironhide rose. "Thanks; I'll need it." He took Prowl by the arm and helped him up.

Prowl folded his arms across his chest as usual once he was up.

Ironhide opened his mouth to say something more, but he decided it wouldn't help anything. He looked at Auri. She was watching, and had been watching, with a curious look on her face. He grinned at her. "Don't let him enjoy himself too much." He said, his optics twinkling.

"No, sir; I won't." Auri said, her optics twinkling in return.

Ironhide stepped over and scooped her up in a hug. "Love you, my little Auri." He said.

She laughed softly and happily. "Love you, too. Go to your committee before they get you in trouble."

He set her down, patting her. "Have a good time. I'll see you later." He said, "Bye, Prowl."

"Bye." Prowl said.

Ironhide tromped off.

Prowl moved over to Auri. She looked up at him questioningly.

He looked down, looking back at her. "Allow me to give you fair warning, Aurion," He said. She nodded, and he went on. "Once Ironhide is your guardian, he will never give up his authoritative role over you."

"Oh…" she didn't know what to do with piece of information or see where it was coming from.

"He was not even my guardian for very long, and it was eons ago, but I still reap consequences." He explained.

"Ironhide was your guardian once, too?" she asked.

He nodded.

She grinned. "You and me, and Bumblebee." She said, pleased at the slight kinship. "He's a wonderful guardian, though." She had to defend Ironhide now.

"That is true; I will never deny that." Prowl replied. "He cares very deeply and gives his all. He was the best guardian I could have ever asked for."

"You just wish he'd quit now that you're Prime's Second-in-Command?"

"Indeed." he confirmed, casually stooping to pick up a handful of damp sand. He straightened to find Auri watching him with anticipation sparkling in her optics. He paused uncertainly.

"Are you going to throw that at me?" she asked eagerly. She had two handfuls of sand. She was ready for an all-out sand fling fight.

He looked down at the sand. "I believe though we have a copious enough amount of sand in our workings without adding to it." He stated.

He looked back at her. "Agreed?" he asked.

"Eh…" she shrugged. "Nah-!" she threw the sand at him.

He ducked quickly. "Let's make a sandcastle instead." He knew he had to divert her attention.

"Okay." Auri nodded. Sandcastle number three was going to be the best one yet.

* * *

So I should be back to more regular updates on this story. Well, until I go back to college later this month. But that's LATER this month! And I have so much planned for the upcoming chapters! XD

And don't forget my DeviantArt! :) I've got a new Prowl drawing up, inspired by some road signs. And I should have a couple more drawings up this week. I have two messy sketches that I did in the car on my trip that need to be touched up and penned, and scanned and edited. One of the drawings is for you, Zoey Wolf. I thought of you often on my trip, actually, for there were lots of wolf-y things up in the north, and I thought of you, too, Ardikani4, since your OC bot is a wolf.

Prowl, advocating the seat-belt law. - http:/ cairistona. deviantart. com/gallery /#/ d42e6rp


	41. Chapter 41, Games

Yeah, Chapter 41 is LONG one! Love to all you reviewers! You all light up my day! :D

* * *

Chapter 41

**Games **

Prowl and Auri spent several hours on the beach, and then Auri persuaded Prowl to take her to the swing.

On coming to the building frame in which the swing was hung, Prowl was slightly surprised at the changes that had taken place since the day he'd watched Bee and Auri play on the swing. The bare metal of the frame had been painted to make it more pleasing to the optics, the metal seat of the swing had been replaced with something more flexible and less dangerous, and a second swing had been added to the frame. And there was a cable ladder going up to the top of a slide. A network of chains had been put up in one corner for climbing, too, and there was a solar-powered energy coil to slide down as human children slid down "fire poles."

It was quite a playground now, Prowl realized as he looked around. The strange thing about it to him, though, was that it was sized for bots his and Auri's sizes, not for little sparklings.

Auri was pleased that Prowl had come to the playground with her. But, try as she might, she was not able to get him to take a turn on the swing. She coaxed and teased, and said that it was his day off and he didn't have to be so… so… professional.

"Indeed, it is my day off," he agreed, "It is my day off, so I may do whatever I please."

Auri flitted her wings. "Brat." She said.

"Ironhide, and only Ironhide, is allowed to call me a brat." Prowl told her.

"What about Ratchet?"

"Ironhide may call him a brat from time to time." Prowl answered, intentionally mistaking her meaning.

"I meant, is Ratchet allowed to call you a brat?"

"Enough with this already. Get on the swing." He ordered.

Auri obediently got on the swing without a pause. She gave him a halfway annoyed look for ordering her around and then proceeded to swing herself happily.

Prowl leaned against the frame, relaxing. He kicked his foot out, trying to dislodge some of the sand. The sand was still too wet to come out though. Yuck.

Auri giggled merrily, and Prowl looked over to see what new amusement she'd found.

"You be careful." He ordered, seeing that she had discovered that she could stand on the swing and still propel it.

"I will," she said happily.

After some time, Prowl decided that it would not be too demeaning to climb on the frame. And he was a little tired of just standing around. So he climbed a little and sat on one of the beams part-way up.

"Upside-down!" Auri called, "Go upside-down!"

"NO!" Prowl yelled, horrified at the notion.

"Awww…"

Prowl wished Bumblebee wasn't out on a scouting mission. Bumblebee would have hung upside-down with gusto. And he would have taken a turn on the swing, too. Oh, well; Auri seemed pleased just to have him, Prowl, staying around for company.

Auri came to climb on the frame as well a little bit later, and then she went to slide on the slide after that. They spent a little over an hour at the frame before Prowl decided that they would move on.

"Where now?" Auri asked, walking beside Prowl.

"The racetrack. But you must not tell anybody."

"Yes, sir." Auri answered. "Why?"

"You are going to get some high-speed-chase training. And that is rather work-related."

"I see." Auri said, smiling a slightly smug smile. She'd never realized that Prowl could be so insubordinate.

Once at the racetrack, the training began, and Auri found it a little challenging, but mostly fun. Prowl taught tactics and maneuvers, and they practiced as slow speeds. Then it was time for high-speed practice.

"Catch me if you can." Prowl bolted down the track before she could say 'yes, sir.'

"Oh-!" She took off after him, dismayed at having been caught off guard, but determined to make it up. Certainly she could catch up easily; after all, she often beat Sunny and Sides when they raced.

It was hard to gain on Prowl, however; he wasn't cutting her any slack here, she saw. That didn't discourage her, though. She liked a challenge. It was like a game of tag: very fun. Finally, she came close, and then she slowly pulled up beside him.

"Pull over!" she ordered. She knew he wouldn't comply, though; that was part of the training.

Indeed, Prowl didn't pull over; he accelerated more.

Auri matched his speed, went a little faster, and then began edging closer to him. "You're coming down!"

Prowl slammed the brakes, swerved behind her and shot past on her other side. She laughed in surprise but continued pursuit after just a second's pause.

Prowl had quite a number of evasive maneuvers, and he practiced them all on her. She squealed in frightened delight more than once as he swerved or spun to evade her. It was exciting.

After a while, though, she realized that she couldn't stop him at all. He wasn't even giving her a chance. As he dodged her time and time again, thwarting her efforts, her ire began to rise.

She gave an aggravated growl and charged on after Prowl after another one of his evasive moves. She was getting mad.

Then she realized that Prowl wanted her mad. Well, perhaps not "mad" per se, but serious. He could tell that she was just playing, and he wanted her to see that this was not a game.

Okay, then. He was going to get what he wanted.

He was going to get dead-serious Aurion-Blaze.

With the bit of adrenaline-like power already flowing through her, she found it easy to cultivate an aggressive behavior.

No more game.

Dead-serious.

She pulled up beside him, moved in front, then spun around as she transformed and gave him a good kick in the fore-bumper. The impact sent Prowl's car-mode flipping backwards into the air, and he transformed as he fell, landing on his feet and then taking a step back to catch his balance.

"Hands up," Auri ordered, sounding ferocious as she leveled her stun gun at him. "-On your head."

Prowl complied as he ducked his head. Now he'd done it.

"Now, get down." Auri ordered.

Prowl opened his mouth to protest. He was only willing to take this simulation so far.

"Down." She snarled.

Well, he'd wanted to evoke a strong aggressive feeling in her, and now he'd done it. He might as well let her play the whole scenario though.

He cautiously dropped down onto one knee, then onto both and placed his forehead on the ground. Then he slid his legs back and lay there prone on the grass. This was not delightful.

He didn't resist when Auri handcuffed him, and he kept his mouth shut. -Even though he wasn't at all happy with the treatment.

"Okay. Get up." She ordered.

Prowl rose clumsily. And, he wondered, what on earth was she planning to do with him next?

Auri gave him a stern glare. At least, she started to. The grimace of doubt on Prowl's unwilling face was too much for her, though. She began to giggle.

Prowl's door-wings lowered. "Aurion…" It wasn't dignified to laugh at prisoners.

She swallowed her giggling and squared her shoulders. "Pardon me," she said, but her optics were still twinkling mischievously.

Prowl overrode the handcuffs and handed them back to her.

"How…?" she stared at them in wonder.

"I programmed them." Prowl explained. "Thus I had the key."

"Oh." She put the cuffs away.

"You did well." He said. "But, everything needs more practice."

She nodded.

"The finally was impressive, however."

She smiled, highly pleased.

"And it smarted." He rubbed the ding on his chest-plating. "A good deterrent."

"I pulled Sunny over once for speeding and ran my rearview-mirror across his door and made terrible black streak on it," she told him, "And he never sped in my zone after that."

Prowl raised his optic-ridges. "I hope you have not done that with anybody else."

"Err… I did it to Ironhide once… with pink." She looked sideways to evade his stare.

Prowl twitched his wings as he pictured Ironhide with a pink streak across his black side.

"He told me to never do that again either to him or anybody else." Auri added. "So I haven't."

"Well, that is good." He didn't have to tell her to obey Ironhide.

"Are we going to practice some more?" Auri asked.

"No…" he looked around. "I think Prime is coming."

"Is we gonna run aways yike some brwatty sparkwings?" Auri teased.

Prowl winced at the baby-talk. Auri really had no idea how perturbing it was to him. Happily for them she had never used in his presence before.

"We are simply going to go somewhere else." Prowl started to walk away, motioning her to follow. "-Quickly!" he added as Prime came into view in truck-mode. Prime was accelerating and shifting into high gear as he headed towards them.

Auri's wheels hit the ground, and she shot off, Prowl just a second behind her. They were well ahead of Prime on the track, but they weren't about to let him catch them.

"How fast can he go?" Auri asked Prowl.

"I actually do not know, but it is shockingly fast for his size."

Prime cut across the corner and gained on them considerably.

"And he cheats." Prowl added, shifting his rearview mirrors.

Ultra Magnus pulled out in front of them from behind a wall.

"And he brings back up!" Prowl yelped as he engaged his brakes and came to a halt.

Auri slammed on her brakes and sideswiped Ultra Magnus as she tried to avoid him.

All four bots transformed.

"Are you alright?" Ultra Magnus asked Auri, crouching down to her height.

"Yes, sir." She replied, gazing at the pink streak on his armoring. The blue scrape on her pink armoring didn't look nearly as funny as the pink looked on his.

"Very well." Ultra Magnus said. Then he followed her gaze. "Ah…hm." He muttered, trying to rub the pink streak away.

Auri glanced sideways at Prowl. He looked slightly guilty.

"What are you two up to?" Optimus asked in an easy-going tone.

Prowl hesitated.

Auri answered. "We's running away yike bratty sparkwings." She cooed, tilting her wings and cocking her head.

Prowl was shocked and horrified. It simply was NOT proper or respectful to answer Prime of all bots with a non-serious answer in baby-talk when he asked a question. He wasn't aware of the less-formal, uncle-like relationship Optimus had with Auri though.

Optimus's battle mask snapped up, and Auri knew she had hit the jackpot. Ultra Magnus made some sort of strangled sound.

"Running away, indeed? What have you done?" Optimus sounded amused.

"We's just bratty." She replied, managing to maintain a serious face.

Prowl was in a great deal of pain… excruciating mental anguish.

"Just bratty, that's all?" Optimus asked, going on with her game with a twinkle in his optics.

She nodded soberly.

"Are swats in order?" He asked.

"No!" Auri gasped, her optics widening. Ratchet, okay; but, Prime? No!

"I wasn't serious." Optimus said gently. He crouched down, and Auri went over close to him. "I was just playing along with you, little Aurion; I would not hurt you." He told her, putting a hand on her shoulder.

She moved forward and hugged him around the neck. "I know that. I just didn't remember."

He hugged her back gently, well aware of how small she was.

"Ratchet didn't hesitate, you know." She added as she stepped back.

Prowl groaned and hid his face. Ratchet… Ratchet was going to be his punishment.

"Prowl?" Optimus asked, concerned for his Second's well-being. "Are you alright?"

"I don't want to be sent to Ratchet…" he answered, his wings lowering in despair.

Optimus run a slight scan over him. "Other than that considerable bruise on your chest, you seem quite sound. Do you _need_ to be sent to Ratchet?"

Prowl drew hope; Prime was sounding a little confused, like he didn't know what Prowl was talking about. Perhaps Prime didn't realize that he, Prowl, had been engaging in work-related activities.

"I do not." Prowl replied.

"Okay then." Optimus said. "No more groaning and wincing. –Unless there is some other problem?"

"No problem."

"Good." Optimus glanced at Ultra Magnus, "Well, we were coming to do some high-speed driving maneuvers, but we don't want to get in your way; will you let me know when you are done?"

Prowl felt relieved and ridiculous at the same time. They hadn't been coming to scold him, and he had run away like a silly little sparkling.

"Oh, could we join you?" Auri asked. Prowl frowned at her for asking but said nothing because Prime was there before them.

Optimus considered them for a moment. Auri especially, and Prowl, were a good bit smaller than he and Magnus were.

"Are we too small?" Auri asked, noting the pause.

Optimus nodded. "For what we have planned, yes." He said gently. "It would be too dangerous for you to join us."

"I understand." Auri said, nodding.

"You may stay and watch if you like, however." Optimus decided. "-Unless your temporary guardian has issues with you observing a game wherein cheating takes place." He added with a mischievous twinkle in his optics directed at Prowl.

"Hem!" Prowl twitched his wings, perturbed.

"Well…?" Auri asked him.

"He was teasing me." Prowl told her. "Of course we may stay and watch."

"OH!" Auri grinned up at Optimus. "Okay! I would love to stay and watch."

"Alright."

Prowl led Auri a little ways off to a bench where they could sit and observe without getting in the way.

"This is a fun day." Auri commented as she settled down.

"I am glad you are enjoying it." Prowl said, and his tone lacked the dryness that it usually had when he said that sentence.

Auri smiled and then directed her focus to the two massive bots on the green.

"Bot or Con?" Optimus asked Ultra Magnus.

Ultra Magnus hesitated. He always found it hard to make choices around Prime, particularly when they weren't battle-driven. Prime usually trusted or went with his choice, but he still never felt completely comfortable about it.

"Do 'Rock, Paper, Scissors' for it." Auri called, intending to be helpful.

Prowl grimaced.

Optimus chuckled. He dearly loved the perspective young, little bots had. And he liked obliging them when possible.

"Rock," he said amicably, putting his fist on his palm.

Magnus stared at him as if to say, 'No way!'

"Paper," Optimus said coaxingly.

Magnus glanced awkwardly over at Prowl. "Paper…"

"Scissors." Optimus said, grinning. "Shoot!"

"Err…" Magnus frowned. He'd gone with 'scissors,' but Prime had gone with 'rock.' But, Prime hadn't said what the winner got. He could work that to his advantage. "Uh… you won; you get to choose: Bot or Con."

Optimus smiled wrily. Of course, Magnus wanted him to make the choice. He should have known that. Well, he could oblige Magnus, too. "Con." He said. Nobody liked having to play the Con.

Prowl leaned closer to Auri. "Prime plays the Decepticon part exceedingly well." He whispered, "Watch him closely."

Auri nodded in acknowledgement.

She and Prowl watched as Optimus and Magnus transformed into truck mode and drove a little ways down the track. Magnus went on down the track a ways more, but Optimus turned off and cut across the grass to put some space between them.

"He's powering up…" Prowl murmured as Optimus slowed. Auri leaned forward in anticipation.

Magnus, observing Optimus, saw him slow and knew that he was getting ready to bolt into action. Prime would probably catch him with a quick, full power sprint. However, if he, Magnus, could put enough distance between them before Prime started, the sprint would be turned into a race. His chances of "survival" would go up in a race, but, given that Prime was a little lighter and faster, Prime would inevitably run him down.

So those were the options for flight. What could he do for fight?

The route of 'fight' had more options, but with Auri watching, he had to choose carefully. He didn't want anything too violent.

Well…

He bolted as Prime shot forward. Flight it was.

Well, flight it was until Prime caught him, and then he'd have to fight. But there were evasive maneuvers he could make to lengthen the chase.

Only, how silly it must look to a little sports-car to see a big semi-truck tearing down a track.

Optimus cut across the grass and gained considerably.

"Ultra Magnus does not like driving on grass." Prowl pointed out to Auri. "Prime knows this and will use it to his advantage. Know the enemy, see his weaknesses, and use them."

Auri nodded, storing away this knowledge while still watching the chase.

Optimus bore down on Magnus, drawing closer ever second. He knew his commander well, and he knew his commander was not entirely focused. And he knew why. Magnus did not do so well with an audience. He was a fighter, not a performer.

He would have to make Magnus forget about his audience to help him to focus. Then he considered the audience. Prowl and Auri were the audience. Magnus could handle having Prowl as a critic; he'd done it plenty, and it hardly troubled him. Auri was the issue then, Optimus realized. Magnus was worried about how the mock fighting would affect her.

She was young, but she wasn't a sparkling. She watched and participated in the femmes' battle practices. She did mock battle with Bee and the twins all the time, too. And Ironhide was her guardian and instructor. It was nice of Ultra Magnus to worry, but it was unnecessary.

He gunned his engine a little more and slammed his fore-bumper into Magnus's rear bumper.

Magnus swerved, startled.

On the bench, Auri giggled. "He didn't see _that_ coming, huh!"

"Indeed not." Prowl replied, frowning. "Focus, Mag…" he murmured.

Optimus pulled forward some more and shoved Magnus in the side, pressing him towards the concrete wall. Magnus slowed to avoid it. Optimus swerved in front and engaged his brakes to cut Magnus off.

Magnus winced and swerved around.

Optimus plowed into his side when he tried to get past.

"Ooow!" Auri exclaimed.

Prowl made a sound of irritated disappointment. Auri was immediately subdued.

"Not you." Prowl told her. "It is Ultra Magnus with whom I am displeased."

"Oh." She perked up, relieved.

"He is hardly trying."

"You can say that again." Auri commented as Optimus rammed Magnus off it track and onto the grass.

"Do something!" Prowl protested to Magnus although Magnus was too far away to hear him.

Ultra Magnus tried to skirt Prime and get back onto the track. Prime cut him off and ran into him again.

Optimus growled tauntingly and backed away, meaning to entice his opponent to come after him. Magnus hesitated.

"Come on, come on!" Auri urged quietly.

Magnus edged forward. Prime swayed back and forth a little.

"Mm-hmm," Prowl was expecting something now.

Ultra Magnus shot backwards and transformed as Prime came forwards.

"Kick!" Auri yelped, recognizing a certain tactic.

Magnus, though he didn't hear her, did kick. The kick wasn't a straight-on kick, but it was solid and sent Prime's alt-mode into the air.

"Yeah!" Auri cheered, bouncing as Prime landed with a heavy thud. Prowl gave her a quick surprised look then refocused on the mock battle.

Optimus transformed quickly and lunged towards Ultra Magnus.

Prowl groaned as Ultra Magnus resumed the dodging, tentative tactics.

"Oh, come on, come on!" Auri coaxed, "No!"

Magnus dodged again. He was only aware that a little femme was watching; he had no idea that she was just waiting for him to really slam into his opponent and make it a worthwhile fight to watch.

"Ohhh!"

"Arrrr." Prowl growled.

"Come on!" Auri swung a fist upwards, "You're bigger! Whip his after-plating!"

Prowl's jaw dropped, and he stared at Auri.

"Yeahyeahyeah!" She didn't notice him; she only noticed that Ultra Magnus had finally given Prime another kick. "Ow, yeah!"

Prowl shifted his door-wings in slight discomfiture as he looked back to the mock battle. His sweet, meek, chaste co-worker was a little more aggressive than he'd ever realized or imagined.

"Awwwww…" she groaned as Magnus retreated some more. "No!"

"No!" she protested again. "Noooooo!"

Then she gasped as Prime actually hit Ultra Magnus in the face.

"Come on, Autobot!" Optimus taunted with a Con-like tone. "Is this the best you got?" he gave Magnus a harder punch in the chest. "At least make it a challenge for me to beat your pathetic form into this squishy earth!"

Magnus stumbled backwards.

Optimus stopped acting like a Con and folded his arms lightly across his chest, looking him over thoughtfully as a Bot.

Ultra Magnus stopped and came to attention. He was in for it now, he knew.

Optimus looked over at the bench where Prowl and Auri were sitting. Auri cocked her head questioningly.

Optimus looked back to Ultra Magnus. "You need to focus." He said gently, keeping his tone low so the other bots couldn't hear. He took a step towards Magnus and placed a hand on his shoulder. "Auri belongs to Ironhide and Chromia, my brother. And she has battle practice of her own. She's seen fighting."

Ultra Magnus considered this and realized that it was true.

"And she _did_ ask to stay and watch." Optimus added with a little smile.

Magnus nodded sheepishly. "Understood."

Optimus patted him on the shoulder. "Okay. So let's show her what you can do."

"Got it." Magnus said.

Optimus stepped back. Magnus stepped back, flexing his arms in preparation.

"KICK HIS TAIL, MAGUS!" Auri yelled.

Magnus's mouth flopped open. Optimus chuckled.

"There you go." Optimus said, grinning as his friend spluttered in astonishment.

"Keep quiet." Prowl advised in an undertone to Auri. "He does badly enough with an audience without it interacting."

"Oops, sorry!" Auri replied quickly and respectfully, but her optics were sparkling.

Prime and Magnus transformed and hit the track again. This time Ultra Magnus was in gear mentally as well as physically.

"Yes." Prowl said with satisfaction as he watched the big truck maneuver around his opponent with confidence.

Auri squirmed happily but remembered to not yell or call out anything.

Both big trucks were focused and aggressive, and the driving was intense.

"Good," Prowl said, his optics never leaving Magnus. "Did you see what he did?" he asked Auri. She nodded. "Do you know why?" he asked. She paused.

"I… think so." She replied slowly.

"Think? You will need to _know_." Prowl said, still watching. Then, having said that, he realized that he ought to use this opportunity to help her learn. Thus, the next move Magnus made, he explained in brief. Then the following move he explained as well. As he spoke, Auri began to understand better. The battle was not simply action; it was perception, calculation, and reaction.

Prime took the fight into bi-pedal mode and onto the green.

Auri looked to Prowl for explanation. The tactician's ego in him was extremely pleased. He pushed it away with logic and explained what Prime was doing.

Soon, though, it became clear that Prime was getting beaten. Ultra Magnus had the upper hand and was playing it strong.

"Ngh!" Prime's hands dug out some of the grass on the green as he stopped himself from landing on his face.

"The Landscape crew hates it when that happens." Prowl commented.

"I know." Auri said. "I've filed twelve of their complaints.-YEEEEAHHHWOOO, MAGNUS!" she whooped as Prime went down and stayed down.

Optimus, face down, chuckled wryly.

Magnus nodded in salute to Auri. He kept his mouth mostly still, but said to Prime, "You sure she's only adopted?"

"Pretty sure." Optimus replied. He started to move to get up, but then he groaned and lay there.

"Are you alright?"

"He cheats," Prowl whispered to Auri as Magnus stepped closer to Optimus.

Optimus was up in a flash and swung a fist.

"ARGH!" Magnus yelled.

Auri squealed.

"Sneak!" Ultra Magnus accused.

"What do you expect for Con?" Optimus teased as he dodged a blow. "NGH!" his dodge was a little too slow.

"Magnus is winning again." Auri said, quite pleased, a few minutes later as Optimus was getting beaten back and down again.

"You are very sure." Prowl said.

Auri opened her mouth to reply. Then she shut it. Prowl knew something. She looked up at him.

"He always brings backup." Prowl said.

"Oh…!"

"Are you ready to die, Con?" Magnus taunted, kicking Optimus lightly in the shoulder as he lay prone.

"Not… quite…" Optimus said, gasping for dramatic effect.

"Last words?"

"Yeah…"

"Well?"

"Behind you."

Ultra Magnus set his arms akimbo. "Behind me? I'm not falling for that one again."

"So be it."

Auri squealed as Ironhide shot out from behind the wall.

"AH-!" Magnus hardly had time to turn before Ironhide slammed into him.

"Backup." Prowl said smugly as Magnus went down with Ironhide on top of him.

"Down, Bot!" Ironhide was good at doing a Con voice, "And stay! You s-"

"WHOA!" Magnus yelled, "LANGUAGE! Auri is present!"

Ironhide froze and looked over his shoulder at Auri and Prowl.

"Yeah." Magnus said.

"Oh." Ironhide reconsidered his vocabulary then went on in his Con voice. "Alright, you scrap of junk metal, how about a tour of the Con brig, huh?"

"I'm not interested." Magnus retorted, thrashing a little.

"Too bad!" Ironhide got off him and jerked him up. Magnus stumbled back down. "Pathetic." Ironhide kicked him.

Magnus grinned then shoved off the ground and rammed into Ironhide. "NGH!"

"Oh!" Auri exclaimed.

"Wrestling match time." Prowl said, shifting a little. As he had said, Ironhide and Magnus fell to wrestling. This he didn't feel like explaining. Auri seemed fine with that, though.

Prowl watched, but suddenly he realized that Auri was rooting for the Cons.

He looked at her with a frown.

"Vic- Vic- VICTORY to the STRONG!" she yelled.

"Just one minute, Aurion." He said, not pleased at all.

"Yes?" she turned to him, half-suspecting something was wrong.

"You are rooting for the Cons."

"Ironhide's on that side for this game." She explained.

"I understand you cheering for your guardian, but that is a Decepticon war shout you just called."

"Oh…" her door-wings lowered. "I didn't know that." She said, much troubled by this new information.

"Well, now you do." Prowl said more gently.

Auri remained more subdued after that. She really felt quite badly about shouting a Decepticon war call.

Ultra Magnus refused to surrender and kept finding some last way to get out of Ironhide's grasp.

"Good, Magnus, good." Prowl was eager to see Magnus redeem his poor first performance.

"BAM!" Magnus said, leveling his cannon at Optimus, who had been getting up.

"Goes offline…" Optimus muttered, flopping back down. After a moment, though, he put his head up and propped his chin on his hands to watch Magnus take Ironhide down.

"Nice going, 'Hide." Ultra Magnus said, giving him a hand up after "offlining" him.

"Thanks. Nice going, yourself." Ironhide replied. "For a minute there I thought I was going to thrash you again."

"Again? Oh, shut-up, big talker." He gave Ironhide a friendly punch in the shoulder.

Ironhide chuckled, and Magnus stopped to help Optimus up.

The three big bots jested and talked as they went over to the bench where Prowl and Auri were. Auri slipped off and paused. Ironhide saw her hesitating and smiled at her, letting her knew that she could come.

She ran over.

"That was cool." She told him, beaming up at him.

He scooped her into his arms. "Thank-you." He said, grinning. He shifted her so he could carry her with ease, and she clasped her arms around his neck.

"What, no praise for Magnus?" Optimus asked teasingly. "He did kick my tail as requested."

Ironhide paused mid-stride. Auri ducked her head and squirmed. "I didn't use any of the words in your _specialized vocabulary_." She coaxed.

"Alright." He said. He did have a couple misgivings about his parenting skills though.

Optimus patted him on the back.

::It's fine, my friend.:: Optimus told him over the comm.. ::She did nothing that she shouldn't have.::

"You did really well, Ultra Magnus." Auri said. "And that move," she swung her hand as he had, "Was awesome."

"Why, thank-you." He replied, modestly pleased.

"And you were cool, too, Optimus." Auri added suddenly as she realized that she said nothing to him.

"I was beginning to wonder." He teased.

"I saw you!" she protested.

"Yuh-huh. You cheered on Mags as a Bot, and then when 'Hide came, you switched over to Cons and said nothing to me." He went on, still teasing.

"You were lying on the green _doing_ nothing." She pointed out.

"AH… true." His optics twinkled at her.

"Mmff." Of course it was true. She grinned back.

"So you're a little turn-sign, are you?" Ironhide asked.

"I only switched to the Cons' side because _you_ were on the Cons' side." She protested.

Ironhide chuckled.

"Ah, loyalty." Ultra Magnus said. "Hello, Prowl."

"Hello." Prowl responded, "I believe you redeemed your poor first performance."

"Thanks. I think."

"You get tired of the ocean?" Ironhide asked Prowl.

"Indeed not. Aurion wish to go swing. And after that we came here."

"Ah, okay." That was fine. "Did she get you to go on the swing again?"

Had she told Ironhide about that? Grr. "Indeed not!"

"Brat." Ironhide said.

Prowl shrugged his wings ever so slightly in acknowledgement. And he saw Auri smiling at him.

Ironhide gave him a rub on the shoulder, and he knew that Ironhide was still pleased with him.

* * *

I added another comic on deviantART. :) It's got Ratchet in it this time, as well as Auri.

http:/ cairistona. deviantart. com/art/ Great-Adventure-2- 251436723

And I added a picture of Soundwave and Zoey the Wolf's OC, Jackknife. Kissy, kissy… call the smooch-patrol… :D

http:/ cairistona. deviantart. com/#/ d42lk9y

My sister got an D'Art account! WHOOOOO! XD She mainly does superheroes so far, but I've seen her other pictures and hope she'll put them up, too. (once I've scanned them for her…) And she did an adorable Transformers picture! Must see! XD

http:/ jay-r-took. /#/ d45kze5


	42. Chapter 42, Flareup

Chapter 42

**Flareup**

Flareup remained perfectly still as she slipped out of recharge. It was an old habit. Never betray that you are awake when you first come of recharge; your systems are still a little slow, and you made need to run them quickly if you move.

She was in Chromia and Ironhide's quarters, she remembered. It felt like she was on the couch. She didn't remember lying down…

She paused, and then she remembered everything, that is, the wild little femme who'd ordered her out, and shot at her, clawed her, kicked her, bit her, and ultimately stun-gunned her. She sure hoped that the femme-ling had either calmed down or left.

Or, -and this idea was the most appealing- perhaps Prowl had brigged her.

Not that she really wanted the little femme incarcerated, but it would certainly be safest for everyone involved.

By now her systems were fully online, and she swept the room with her sensors. She was alone, free to move without caution. She rose and stretched luxuriously, looking around a little with satisfaction. It was always good to get back to NEST and her friends after a long trip. She wandered around the quarters a little. Everything was where it was always kept, and that was nice, comforting.

She frowned at herself for being sentimental and then decided she'd better get moving and head to the showers before anyone came back. She had plenty of grime on her armoring from travelling, and she didn't like that.

Sticking her head out the door, she made sure the way was clear, and then transforming quickly, she headed out and towards the showers. By taking a detour, she was able to get to the showers without being seen by very many people, and no Bots saw her. She saw Tracks, but he didn't see her.

Flareup snickered at herself for being able to sneak around and not be seen, and then she slipped in the door of the bathhouse. There was a main entryway in the bathhouse, and then separate entryways from there to the separate femmes' and mechs' showers.

Prowl was standing at the door to the femmes' side looking provoked and frustrated, like someone was in there whom he wanted to get his hands and he couldn't. He turned quickly on hearing Flareup enter.

"Hi, Prowl." Flareup greeted him as a smirk curved up her mouth.

"Hello." He said, the frustrated look not leaving his face.

"Thanks for rescuing me earlier, by the way; I didn't really get a chance to thank you then."

Prowl half-smiled drily. He knew when she was teasing him.

Flareup chuckled, pleased with the result. "So, what's going on now?" she asked.

He motioned to the femmes' door. "Aurion has evaded me by going the one place I cannot go."

"What, you're not going into the femmes' showers?" she teased. Some mechs might, but Prowl was too well-behaved to even consider it.

"No." Prowl said. "Not unless someone is critically injured. Auri simply has a piece of glass caught in her foot workings, picked up on the beach. It was fine until a short while ago when she knocked it into a different position; now it is sawing at some wiring and causing her a bit of pain."

"Ow," Flareup grimaced. That was always no fun.

"And she has had a long day and is in no mood to cooperate." Prowl added.

Flareup cocked an optic-ridge in amusement as she noticed his chest. "So did she leave that ding in your chest plating?"

Prowl crossed his arms over the mark. "I received that while doing some high-speed chase practice." He informed her.

"I see." Flareup felt amused. He hadn't said 'no.' "So, what are you going to do about Aurion?"

"I am going to request that you assist me and bring her out."

"_**ME**_?" Flareup stared at him. "Excuse my protesting, but, _Prowl are you crazy_? She'll freak out if she sees me!"

"I can request, or I can require." Prowl said without mercy.

"Okay. But I hope you'll be sorry if she offlines me."

"She will not offline you." Prowl said more sympathetically. "Improve your attitude, be gentle, and speak kindly to her. It should be work." He moved away from the door.

Flareup gusted cool air through her system and focused on being kind and sympathetic. Kind and sympathetic weren't generally listed among her defining characteristics.

Flareup opened the door cautiously and put her head in. Aurion was sitting on a bench in the entryway, her knees drawn up to her chin and her arms encircling her legs. She looked quite pitiful, especially since her little door-wings were drooping almost completely down.

"Hey…" Flareup found it much easier to be sympathetic than she'd thought it would be.

Auri flinched.

"It's kinda been a rough day, huh?" Flareup asked. Yeah, sympathy was certainly stirring.

Auri shook her head.

"No?" Flareup asked, confused.

"It was a fabulous day…" Auri murmured, "I'm j-just don't feel good now."

"Aw, yeah? I know what that can be like." Flareup slowly moved towards Auri. "You have so much fun and then suddenly you get hurt and after that you're out and miserable."

Auri nodded.

"Need a hug?" Flareup asked.

Auri nodded again, straightened and put her feet down, shifting so Flareup could sit beside her.

Flare went over and sat down beside her, gently putting her arms around the smaller femme. "Sorry I caused a bit of turmoil back at your quarters for you this morning." She said after a while.

"Heh… it's alright." Auri murmured. "It saved Prowl from a miserable day off."

"Day off?" Flareup's optics widened. Then she chuckled, "Oh, Prowl!" she laughed a little more as Auri giggled. "Ah, poor Prowl… I'm glad I saved him then."

Auri nodded and her giggles faded away with a sigh. "I'm sorry I shot at you." She said softly.

"It's alright." Flareup replied, "I've been shot at plenty. And I was being a little too hoity-toity for my own good."

Auri almost smiled, almost giggled. Then she grimaced. "And sorry for kicking you, and clawing you, too, and…uh…"

"Biting me, and stun-gunning me, and everything." Flareup finished for her. "Seriously, it's alright. I don't hold it against you at all. I'd have done the same thing -minus the biting. I don't bite"

A shy smile crept up onto Auri's face. She was going to say something more, but she got interrupted.

Somebody knocked on the door. Both femmes knew that it was Prowl. Auri looked like she might cry.

Flareup grimaced at the thought of having Auri cry. They had to get that piece of glass out, though.

"Come on." She said firmly. "This won't be fun, but it's what has to happen. And you'll feel much better afterwards."

Auri nodded reluctantly.

"Come on in, Prowl." Flareup called. She smirked as she pictured the look of horror on Prowl's face as it registered in his processors that she'd called him into the entryway to the femmes' showers.

There was a rather long pause, indeed, but Prowl finally opened the door and came in, leaving the door open.

"Sorry for running away…" Auri said, looking up at Prowl.

Prowl shook his head. "I understand completely." He told Auri gently as he knelt down at her feet.

Flareup gazed at Prowl in utter amazement. She had never heard him say that he understood _completely_ to anybody. Sure, she'd heard him say that he understood, but never _completely_. And certainly _not_ to someone who had run away from him.

"Ow…" Auri protested softly as Prowl took her little foot in his hands.

"I will be gentle," he reassured her, and Flareup rubbed her shoulder encouragingly.

Auri sat still and quiet as Prowl removed her foot armoring, but she squirmed when he brought out a small medic's tool.

She whimpered when he touched her foot with the tool.

"That did not hurt." Prowl told her.

"It will though," she fussed,

"Just be still; it will not hurt that much."

"OWWWWWEEE!" she howled a moment later. Prowl winced as she kicked with her sore foot.

"Easy there," he had learned this phrase from Prime but hadn't used it before. Once she calmed down, he went back to work.

"EEE**EE**_**EE**_…!" she squealed. He held her foot firmly so she couldn't kick with it. She squirmed and howled and then kicked out with her other foot.

"Ah-!" Prowl caught the kick full in the face.

Flareup froze in horror, knowing that Prowl hated getting kicked in the face more than the average bot hated it. It had something to do with the Decepticons' treatment of him once when he'd been captured, she knew. It made her feel sick to think about it. Prowl stayed calm, though, and rubbed the top of the little femme's foot soothingly until she grew less tense.

"Sorry," Auri murmured, hiding her face against Flareup's shoulder.

"It is alright," Prowl said patiently, but some of his stress slipped into his tone.

Auri tried her best to hold still after that; even when it hurt the most, she kept her foot still and clenched her hands instead. She couldn't keep from whimpering a little, though.

"Brave little bot," Prowl told her softly, nearly shorting out Flareup's logic center. "All done." He said a second later and held up the tool to show her the piece of glass.

"That's a nasty piece of glass." Auri commented, brushing tears from her optics with one hand while taking the glass to look at it with the other. "Thank-you for getting it out." She said, sounding much less miserable.

"You are welcome." Prowl replied.

Auri wiggled her foot. "It feels much better now." She sounded almost chipper to Flareup. Flareup smiled.

"Good." He slipped the armoring back on. Then he rose carefully. "It will be a little sore for a few hours, but it should feel fine after that. If it does not, you will have to go see Ratchet."

Auri nodded. "Understood."

"Good. I will go now. Thank-you for your help, Flareup."

"No problem." Flareup said; it had been highly interesting. She'd never seen Prowl treat anyone with such gentleness and sympathy.

Prowl left, and Flareup turned to Auri. "So, I'm going to wash up; what are you going to do?"

"I have to wash, too." Auri said, slipping off the bench. "We were heading over here to wash when the glass started to hurt me."

"Okay-dokey!" Flareup let Auri go first into the showers. "So, what'd you do after you stun-gunned me?" she asked as she started a shower.

Auri sat and began removing her armoring. "Prowl and I debated about what to do for a bit, and he tried to get Prime to repeal his day off. Then we ended up going to the beach for a couple hours."

"Hours…?" she had no idea how anybody could just sit in one same place for hours. She liked action.

"Hours." Auri confirmed. "We went in the water a bit and built some sandcastles."

Flareup paused as she picked up her foaming soap. "Uh… wait a sec., we _who_?" Where they still talking about Prowl here?

"Prowl and me." Auri said, turning on her own shower and ducking under the water.

"Is that to say that Prowl built a sandcastle?" That would be awesome besides being crazy.

"Indeed it is."

"He… he… b…" Flareup spluttered.

"And after that he went with me to the park." Auri said, deciding it would be good to move on. "And then we went to the track and practiced high-speed chases."

"He's murder on the track, huh?" Flareup commented. Nobody got to live when Prowl when hit the track; he took them all down. It got provoking, always losing to Prowl.

"He's sharp like Prime's best blade." Auri said admiringly as she soaped up.

Flareup choked a bit. _Sharp like Prime's best blade_?

"Uh, what else did you do?" she asked when she'd regained her vocal-processor.

"Well, Optimus and Ultra Magnus came and wanted the track for their own practice, so we watched them. Prowl explained their moves and maneuvers to me. Everything he'd taught me in our practice made much, _much _more sense when he pointed out Mags and Optimus doing it. And after big Bots left we went back to our own high-speed chase practice, and Prowl said my driving was much improved."

"I must have been gone a really long time." Flareup muttered to herself.

"You've been gone since before I landed on earth." Auri said, starting to rinse off.

"Yeah." Flareup said, smiling although that wasn't what she'd meant. She meant that Prowl had changed in her absence. "Are you liking earth, by the way?"

"Oh, totally." Auri answered promptly with a grin. "I love it!"

"Nice! What's your favorite thing about it?"

Auri giggled. "I have no idea! I enjoy all of it." Then she paused thoughtfully. Flareup gave her a curious look, wondering what she was thinking about. A couple moments later, Auri spoke again. "I think the thing I like best about being here, is having a family and friends. I was pretty much alone on the last planet I lived."

Flareup smiled at Auri softly, touched by this. She was a very independent bot, one who liked doing whatever she wanted, and when and how she wanted. She'd always liked her friends, but she'd always been most pleased by adventuring by herself. The way Auri put it, though, made her realize what a treasure she'd had in having the family and friends that she'd had. "I'm glad you can have that now." She said.

Auri smiled fondly at her. "Thank-you. That's sweet of you to say so."

Flareup smiled back. Then she quickly looked for something less serious to talk about, not wanting to go into soft territory. "So, have yah picked up a mech-friend yet?"

"AH!" Auri flung her arms up in exasperation. "Are mech-Bots the only thing on grown-up femmes' processors besides shooting Cons?"

"Err…" Flareup paused; this would be Chromia's territory.

Auri giggled and covered her face, "Actually, don't answer that. Ah, well, I don't have a 'mech-friend.'"

"Okay, okay. Just wondering."

"I like mechs as much as the next femme-ling does." Auri said, wringing her washcloth out, "I'm just not to the point for I'm looking for one to be mine."

"Oh, yeah. I totally understand."

"So, do you have a mech-friend?"

"Nope."

"Have ideas about the ideal one?"

"Uh… not really."

"My ideal one is a bit like Ironhide: courageous and strong, but gentle, y'know."

Flareup grinned. "You don't like your guardian much, do you?"

"Nah, not much at all." Auri teased, grinning back.

"Tough luck…"

Auri giggled.

"Oh…!" Flareup said, thinking of something, "Wait. Do you have a crush on anybody?"

"A w_hat?_"

"A crush."

"Uh…"

"You do know what a crush is, don't you?" Flareup thought she'd be shocked if Auri didn't know. Really, you couldn't live around Chromia and Ironhide and NOT know what a crush was.

"Yeah, I know what a crush is!" Auri replied staunchly. Then she looked abashed. "I just looked it up." She confessed. And then she giggled. "It's what Ironhide has for Chromia."

Flareup snickered. "Exactly. So…?" she asked eagerly.

"Nope."

"Aw… c'mon! Not even a little one?"

"Ummm… well, Sunny, Sides, and Bee are my best, best friends. I love them like brothers, but no crush there. And everybody else to too old or grown-up."

"You're just a sparkling, aren't you?" Flareup said in amazement.

"Oh, dear, now where have I blundered?" Auri asked adorably.

"You can have a crush on anybody, regardless of age. Seriously, Ultra Magnus is older than my father, and I had a crush on Ultra Magnus when I was your age."

Auri squeaked in surprise.

"Yeah. Chromia never laughed so hard in life when she found out." She added drily.

Auri giggled. "I bet she did!"

"Compassionless, cruel femme. And then she teased me about him every chance she got."

"Oh…" Auri didn't think sounded so fun.

"Oh, oh, it was alright!" Flareup reassured her. "I never laughed as much as I did when she teased. And I got her back plenty. We had fine fun."

"Oh, okay." Auri smiled again, "She is fun to jest around with."

"Mm-hmm! The most fun!"

Then two femmes spent awhile in the showers, chatting as they cleaned off. After a while, Auri turned off her shower and shimmied a little. "I'm done."

"I will be in a minute,"

Shortly the two femmes were in the femmes' entryway toweling themselves dry. Flareup smiled when she saw Auri twisting around trying to dry her wings.

"Need some help, spark?"

"Yes, thank-you." Auri answered and smiled up at her.

"No prob." Flareup dried the small door-wings and flicked Auri playfully with the towel when she was done.

Auri snapped her with a second towel, and she snapped Auri back. Auri squealed and dodged. Flareup laughed and ducked as Auri came back with another flick of her towel.

"Okay, okay." Flareup said, snatching both towels and tossing them in the hamper. "Let's not get carried away. Who knows how near Prowl maybe."

"He's just outside the bathhouse." Auri answered.

Flareup froze. "And you know that how?"

Auri shrugged. "I just sense him there." She said.

Flareup cocked her head. That was just weird. "Uh… are you a telepath?"

Auri shook her head quickly. "No! No." Telepaths frightened her.

"Err… do you have some kind of … bond? … with him?" that would be kind of creepy, loner Prowl having a bond with somebody.

Auri shook her head again. "I don't think so, really. Well, I guess we may have formed some sort of bond while working together. That might be it…"

"Y… t… w… working together? O-on what…?"

"Just working in the office. I work there part time."

"Y… … …?"

OoOOooOooOOoO

Prowl, parked by the curb outside the bathhouse, was dozing in car-mode. He was waiting for the two femmes to finish with their showers and rejoin him. The femmes, it seemed, took a very long time. That was fine though; he had plenty of time. It was actually pleasant for once, to have no cares in the world. He never did recharge enough, and he'd had a full day. The warm water had refreshed him, but it had also made him drowsy. And then the warm energy of the sun on his body really just did him in. His systems drifted in and out of recharge, but mostly in.

"Prowl? Prowl!" Auri sounded a little urgent.

Prowl shook himself out of his dozing and transformed to gaze down at her with a half-online look. "Yes, Aurion?" he answered as the rest of his systems came on and he lost his sleepy look.

"Flareup's logic shorted out." She reported.

"Oh. What _did_ you tell her?" he asked as he opened the door to the bathhouse and waited while Auri went in first.

"Just that I worked for you."

"Hmf." Prowl nearly chuckled at that. He stopped at the femmes' door. "Is she…?"

"She is fully armored." Auri said, and she was pleased with the poise with which she said it.

Prowl went in and stooped to pick up the temporarily offline Flareup. "You do give her a hard time, don't you?" He commented as he rose.

Auri giggled and looked half-pleased and half-abashed as she clasped her hands behind her back.

Prowl went into the main entryway and lowered Flareup to the floor. Then he brought her back online.

"Oh…" Flareup groaned.

"Hello." Prowl said, still supporting her upper body.

Flareup grunted and tried to rise. Prowl gave her a hand up.

"You okay?" Auri asked.

"Sure, sure." Flareup said. Then she rubbed her head. "That certainly doesn't happen to me often." She commented. "Yeah, seriously, Prowl, does she actually work in your office?"

"Indeed." Prowl said. "And I will add that she is quite an excellent help."

Auri was too pleased for words.

"Well, shut my mouth." Flareup said, raising her optics-ridges in wonder. "Wow."

"Indeed." Prowl looked around. There was nothing else that had to be done here. He moved towards the door. And he knew the two femmes were coming with him. Courteous as ever, he held the door and let them exit first before following them.

"We're all going back to Ironhide and Chromia's quarters for evening refuel," Auri informed her two comrades.

"Who says?" Flareup asked, making Prowl tilt his wings back in disproval. He disliked it when she was smart-alecky.

"Ironhide, that's who," Auri replied in a sassy tone back at her.

"Oh, well, then! We better scoot; Ironhide's word is law."

* * *

Yay, there's my update! :) And I've been at it again with my pens and markers, too. Optimus Prime got pranked… http:/ cairistona. deviantart. com /#/ d45x8w5

And I tried something new that turned out really cute! http:/ cairistona. deviantart. com/#/ d464ap4

And here's a group of bots having fun that my sister did. http:/ jay-r-took. deviantart. com/#/ d45wyzj


	43. Chptr 43, Test, Trouble, & Truth or Dare

Just FYI, Flareup is red and orange, and she's a cannon character, not an OC. Although… given how little information there is on her, about anything can be done with her. Anyways, here's the next chapter! X)

(There's some drama/angst stuff in one part that I hope won't offend or anger anybody. Sorry if it does :/ I'll make it better by the end of the chapter)

* * *

Chapter 43

**Test, Trouble, and 'Truth or Dare'**

"I'm going to drive," Auri said before transforming. Her foot still ached a little.

"I gotta say," Flareup stepped back, "That's a cute alt-mode."

Auri bounced a little. "Thank-you! I like it a whole lot myself."

Flareup transformed into a flashy sports-car. "You betchya." She replied, revving her own engine. "Prowlie?"

"It is _Prowl_." Prowl said, "And do not exceed the speed limit ever."

The sports-car drooped on its axles. "Yes, sir, Commander Prowl. You coming?"

"I am." Prowl transformed neatly.

"Still that grim black and white _Troll_ car?"

"Shall I book you for contempt of office?"

"No, sir."

"See to it then that I will not have to. I will not tolerate any rude or disrespectful behavior from you."

"Yes, sir..." She replied uncomfortably. She hadn't meant to provoke a lecture out of him. "I will behave with all proper conduct." She assured him.

That satisfied him, and he pulled forward. Auri pulled in behind him neatly as if she had been there forever, and Flareup fell in place behind her.

Auri was quiet as she followed Prowl. She was thinking about Flareup. Flareup was a bit like Chromia in her cheery, happy-go-lucky way. And she had a similar tough, independent air about her, too. They both teased Prowl as well; however, Chromia's teasing was like that of a guardian while Flareup's was simply that of a flippant Bot. Auri didn't like that. Prowl had to be treated with great respect. Well, he would see to it that he was; she didn't have to worry about it. Besides, Flareup was kind to her and quite friendly. She'd apologized for causing the morning fight, and had helped Prowl look after her when she'd had the glass in her foot. She was a nice Bot.

She was caught up in her musings, but suddenly she stopped them, realizing that Flareup had dropped behind quite a bit. For a brief second she wondered why, and then she was shocked to find that she had been mindlessly following Prowl and that Prowl was speeding. Flareup hadn't been speeding. Good for her, but what was with Prowl?

"You're speeding, Prowl." She told him.

"You noticed." Prowl replied before accelerating.

"What? NO! We can't do this here!" Auri protested.

Prowl stopped and backed-up. "Indeed, we can. This is my department."

"I… still don't like it…" Auri hated to argue with Prowl. She really didn't think they should practice chases on the open street, though. And she was going to stand up for what she thought was right. "I am n-not g-going to d-do chase p-practice here, C-Commander." She stuttered with as much firmness as she could, which wasn't much. It was terrifying to defy Prowl.

Prowl transformed into bipedal-mode and gazed down at her, his face unreadable.

She rolled back a little and transformed as well, keeping her head down.

"Aurion," Prowl said, "Put your head up."

She obeyed fearfully.

"There are times when you must use discretion and choose between doing what you are ordered and doing what you feel is morally right." He said.

She shivered a little with apprehension. It had been a test. Had she failed?

"You made the right choice."

The terror and apprehension vanished, and Auri felt a sense of amazement along with relief.

"You are typically so docile that I was not altogether certain that you would stand up to me," Prowl explained, making a small motion with his hand. "I wanted to be certain. Well done."

"Th-thank-you." Auri managed to say.

"Nice going," Flareup said, smiling as she came forward to give Auri a pat on the back.

"Thank-you!" Auri replied, smiling back.

"I failed that test in real life once," Flareup said drily.

"No fun there, I bet."

"Ha! No." Flareup tossed her head "I thought my commanding officer –a generally nice femme- would never quit chewing me out for it after we got back." she rolled her optics in exasperation.

"Oh."

"I have failed the test many times." Prowl said seriously, "One of them nearly got me killed." He added in a very quiet tone. Auri shifted her optics to Prowl, and then she saw that he was pained about something.

Flareup dropped her optics. "I'm sorry, Prowl." She said quietly, her flippant air gone. She opened her mouth to say more but faltered. "Sorry." She murmured and then, transforming, she drove away.

Auri frowned, uncertain of what to think of this. She looked to Prowl, questions in her expression.

"She laughs because she is scared." Prowl said softly. "…Afraid to show what she really feels. I saw her after that mission she mentioned; she was shaken up and terrified. She often hides behind flippancy and laughter." There was no censure or reproof in his tone, only understanding. "We all have are insecurities; this is how she deals with hers."

"I see…" Auri said slowly. "Understood."

Prowl nodded and motioned for them to go. They transformed and drove to Ironhide and Chromia's quarters. Flareup was sitting outside in bipedal mode. Prowl and Auri transformed.

Flareup glanced down then rose and met Prowl's gaze. "I'm sorry I was sassy back there, Prowl. I know better."

"Apology accepted, Flareup." He replied. "I understand; really, I do."

"I understand, too," Auri said, reaching for Flareup's hand. "It's okay to be yourself here, though."

"Ah… thanks." Flareup was a little lost for words. She gave Auri a hug and Prowl a look. Then she grabbed him in a quick hug. "Okay." She said, stepping away from Prowl.

Auri went and unlocked the door. Ironhide was in the quarters, she knew, but she wasn't sure where Chromia was.

She motioned for Flareup to go first, for Flareup was a guest.

"I beginning to think," Ironhide started to say as he turned from the table. "Flareup!" there was no mistaking the delight in his tone. Flareup dashed over to him and was immediately caught in a bear-hug by the great Weapons' Master.

Auri, at the door, grinned, pleased with this reception, and Prowl's mouth showed a tiny smile.

"So you're back now, troublemaker?" Ironhide asked, freeing her from the hug but keeping an arm around her. "I shoulda warned Auri about letting in strangers."

Flareup chuckled as she hugged him back. "Haha! It's too late now. You'll never stop me from getting in after this." She punched him lightly in the middle.

"Yeah, I got caught off guard." He said; then he left off the teasing. "When did you arrive? I'd no idea that you were back on the planet."

"Got back this morning." Flareup stated, moving away to inspect the table. "Wait a sec." she spun back around, "Auri said you ordered me here."

Ironhide looked baffled.

"You said 'you, plural.'" Auri said to Ironhide, concern on her face as Ironhide motioned her over. He picked her up to hug her.

"I only meant you and Prowl," He said as he realized what had occurred. "I didn't know that Flare was back." He explained, looking pleased that she was. Auri crooked her arm around Ironhide's neck so she could stay, and he kept one arm around her to hold onto her.

"Oh. So I coulda gone out with the twins." Flareup said, sounding half-annoyed.

"Actually, no." Prowl said from the couch. "They are in the brig."

"AH! I coulda gone _in_ with the twins."

"You're staying right here with us, and you know it." Ironhide told her with a twinkle in his optic. She could act careless all she wanted, but he knew how she would have chosen him and Chromia over the twins any day.

"You're not my boss." Flare retorted with a grin, her delight completely belying her words.

"You bet I'm your boss." Ironhide tapped her nose with his finger. "Don't yah forget it."

"She can't fool me." Auri said playfully, "She said your word was law before we came here."

"Ah-ha!"

"Tattletale!"

"Eek! Save me!" Auri squealed as Flareup made a lunge for her in mock anger. Ironhide sidestepped her, but not very fast.

"I got your foot!" Flareup cheered victoriously, but her hands were very gentle.

"Ah! No! NO!" Auri squirmed and tried to climb a little higher up Ironhide in play panic.

"I'm gonna tickle you to death!"

"Eeeeek!"

Ironhide was no help at all; he just stood, leaning against the table with a laughing grin while Auri clung to him, giggling and trying to evade Flareup's tickling.

"Prowl, save me!" Auri squealed through her giggles. Flareup was extremely good at tickling. "ProwlProwlProwl!"

"He's in recharg-" Ironhide started. "Ah!" Auri's knee caught him in the face. She was on his shoulder now and almost out of Flareup's reach but still squealing.

Flareup grabbed for Auri's foot again. Ironhide put a stabilizing hand on Auri and lunged forward to tickle Flareup's midriff. Flareup shrieked and bolted away.

"WHAT?" Prowl yelped, sitting bolt upright.

"Tickle attack." Ironhide explained while the femmes suppressed their giggles. He hadn't followed after Flare, and the grin had left his face.

"If you touch me, I will leave immediately." Prowl warned. He had built sandcastles and climbed on the climbing-frame, but he was NOT about to let himself get tickled.

"I have no intention of doing such." Ironhide assured Prowl as he easily swung Auri down. The play was gone from him voice, but he kept it light. "Keep Prowl company a bit, MyAuri; I want a word with Flare."

"Okay." Auri trotted obediently over to the couch and climbed up to sit next to Prowl as Ironhide motioned for Flareup to step into the other room.

"Is she in trouble?" Auri asked Prowl in a whisper.

"If we were supposed to know, we would have been told." Prowl whispered back. Then in a regular indoors voice he asked her if she had enjoyed watching Prime and Magnus on the track.

They both knew the answer, but they also knew that they should have a conversation and not listen to whatever Ironhide was saying to Flareup in the other room. The door was standing wide open, of course, for it would not be proper for it to be otherwise, and it would have been quite easy to eavesdrop. Auri replied that she had enjoyed watching the mechs on the track and went on to talk about all sorts of things.

Auri had tried on numerous occasions to carry on a conversation with Prowl, and they had usually failed; he usually made them end. Now, however, he wanted one, and she found that it was marvelously easy to chatter on with his encouragement. He only had to nod or shake his head, say 'Really?' or 'Indeed?', and she could keep going. It was fun.

"Prowl!" Flareup barked from the door.

Prowl looked over at her. Auri looked over cautiously.

"Did you notice my armoring?" Flareup demanded.

"I did." Prowl answered as imperturbably as if he was accustomed being asked such awkward things. "I made a note to notify your femme-commander of it as soon I have use of my computer again."

She glared at him for second, but then Ironhide pulled her away from the door.

"What about her armor?" Auri whispered, looking perplexed.

Prowl squirmed inwardly. "It… doesn't cover her middle." He said.

"Oh." Auri had noticed that, actually, but more than one of her former room-mates had wore their armor that way; she supposed that it was just something femmes of that age did. It seemed to draw Decepticons and rogue-Bots, though. It didn't seem smart to Auri, but the other femmes had seemed to like it.

"It is not proper around here." Prowl explained, uncertain as to what Auri was thinking about it.

"Oh… I see now." That made sense.

"_I'll do whatever I __**XXXX**__ well want to_!" They heard Flareup raise her voice in the other room. Auri looked shocked at the word.

"She doesn't take correction very well at all. –Ever." Prowl said regretfully. "No matter how gentle – "

"I USE WHAT EVER _**XXXX**_ LANGUAGE I WANT TO!" Flareup yelled, running into the main room. She paused and turned as Ironhide came to the doorway, "AND I'LL WEAR WHATEVER STYLE OF ARMOR I **XXXX **WELL WANT TO, AS WELL!" she hurled back at him before heading for the door to the hallway.

Ironhide was quick and grabbed her by the arm. "You're not leaving."

"Yes, I am!" she yelled, trying to claw him.

"Not while you're hurting, you aren't."

She swore foully at him. He was shocked for a split second. Then he whirled her around and brought the flat on his hand down hard on her behind.

"OWwwww!" her cry was a mix of anger and pain. She tried get away from Ironhide, but he held her arm firmly. "Let go…!"

"I don't let go of the ones I care about." He told her softly. He kept her there. He was strong even though his spark was crying out in emotional pain. His precious Flareup had made a bad choice… and when he in loving-care went to speak to her, she fought and swore and hated him. It stabbed and tore at his spark like nothing else. How it hurt!

He felt Auri's distress as well. His feelings clouded what exactly Auri was distressed about, but he could still feel the basic emotion.

He looked over to the couch. Prowl and Auri were sitting like statues with folded hands as they stared away from the scene.

Flareup slowly stopped fighting Ironhide's grasp and shifted to stand on her own as she lowered her head. After a moment she gave in completely and leaned against him to be hugged like a tired sparkling. Ironhide gently encircled her with his arms. He held her for a while before she spoke.

"I'm sorry," she whispered.

"It's alright," he said gently. "I know you have a hard time dealing with things sometimes."

"It's not an excuse though." She murmured.

Ironhide held her some more. The pain in his spark slowly ebbed away as Flareup took comfort from his presence. After a while she sighed and stepped back from him. Both she and Ironhide gave each other searching looks. He was looking to see if she was going to fight again; she was looking to see if he was going to return to his former subject. And they were both afraid of what they saw.

"That hurt," Flareup said reproachfully as she put a hand to her rump.

"Not as much as it hurt me to see what you were doing to yourself." Ironhide said, his tone soft. "Will you please, please just hear me out?"

Flareup nodded. Her optics shifted to the other room. Were they going back?

Ironhide saw it. "Auri is much younger," he said, "And hasn't reached an age yet where this is much of an issue, but she should hear it, too."

Flareup nodded her understanding. Ironhide motioned his little femme over, and they all three sat on the floor.

"I'm a mech, so I know this personally," Ironhide said, "Femmes fascinate us. They're pretty, and different, and they have these curves," he made a motion with his hands. "They are like our sisters, though, so we treat them with courtesy and respect. Prowl and Bumblebee are good examples. Not all mechs are that way, though." He looked to see how Auri was processing this. She seemed to be understanding it.

He went on. "Some mechs are going to do whatever pleases their…" maybe he should have waited for Chromia? –this could be awkward for the young femmes.

"Lusts?" Auri guessed, misreading his pause as a search for a word.

"Well, yes."

"Eew." Auri commented.

So, it was going to be awkward for _him_! He paused, summoning up some courage, then went on. "The Transformers minds and intellects are amazing; we can have incredible conversations and marvelous debates. You femmes think differently than we mechs do, and that adds a whole lot of interest to a conversation. Femmes are very interesting. But some for some mechs, a femme's proto-form is even more interesting than the femme herself."

He motioned to Flareup's bare middle. "You want attention from mechs, MyFlare. This is the quickest way to get it." He met her optics, "This is not a good way, though. You are going to draw attention from the mechs who run around pleasing their… -selves. They're looking for an energy-charged night, and when you're low, they'll go off looking for better ride. I know you, Flare. I know that that is not what you want."

"No, not what I want at all." Flareup murmured.

"Also, the good mechs will look away from you because they know the not-so-good ones have had their optics –and maybe their hands- all over you. Hot-Rod may look at you twice, but he's _finally_ reached the point where he knows better and won't go for it.

"If you want a good mech," He went on, "It will take patience. You have to wait. Chromia waited. When I first saw her, we were on the battlefield, and it was her actions that caught my optics, not her body. She looked like a car-wreck! What she did is what impressed me. She attracted me by her skill and courage. Afterwards, I got to know her a little better and found that she also had a marvelous mind and a quick wit. Attributes and characteristics are what drew me. I thought she was gorgeous, too, but that wasn't the main thing."

There was a thoughtful expression on Flareup's face. She knew Ironhide and Chromia's story quite well. She loved it very much, in fact. But she had never looked at it from this angle.

She sighed softly, regretting her actions towards Ironhide. He cared a whole lot about her and simply wanted her to be well taken care of. She supposed he was right. She half-smiled as she realized that he wouldn't have gone through such a fight if he hadn't been.

Looking up, she met Ironhide's optics, his gently glowing blue optics with their hint of violet. She wasn't sure what to say. She knew what to do, though. Rising, she went into the other room. Then taking the midriff pieces of armor from her subspace, she slipped them back on, covering up her middle completely. This was how Ironhide wanted it; this was how it should be.

She went back to the main room where Ironhide and Auri were still sitting, and Prowl was still recharging.

She dropped to one knee, following the formal custom of Cybertron, and then looked to Ironhide. Ironhide rose and stood before the kneeling femme, following the custom as well.

"I am sorry, my friend and counselor," Flare said softly yet clearly, "I am sorry for my rude words, my hostile actions, and the _horrible_ language I used towards you. You are ever patient with me, and I receive nothing but kindness from you. I badly repaid you, and I apologize for it. Please continue to treat me with you love and care as you always have; please extent your forgiveness to me." It was said; now for Ironhide's reply.

He held out his hands to her. After a second she put her own small hands into his big ones, and he gently brought her to her feet. "I accept your apology and forgive you completely and freely." He said. He paused, and then did away with formality and pulled her close for a hug.

"Oh, Ironhide…" Flareup mourned.

"Sh-sh, Bright-Flare," he murmured as she started to cry.

"Can you really forgive such a horrible brat as I?" she asked through her tears.

"Course I can! I love you, of course I forgive you. But," he leaned her back to look her in the face, "Don't you call yourself a horrible brat; it's not true. And I'll smack you for lying and name-calling, understood?"

She chuckled ruefully and nodded. "Understood, sir." She said then added fondly. "Anything you say, 'Hide."

"Just looking out for you."

"I know." And it felt good to know it. She was being looked out for, cared for. Ironhide's presence calmed her down and soothed her as she leaned against him. He was so good to her. Even the painful swat had been good for her, as much as she hated to admit it. His actions always stemmed from loving-care.

She suddenly remembered little Auri. Ironhide sensed that she was thinking of something else now and gently let her go. She looked around him to see Auri still sitting on the floor. Auri had drawn her legs up and had her arms around them, and she was resting her chin on her knees as she gazed up at Flareup and Ironhide.

Flareup sat down in front of her. "I was a terrible example… I'm really sorry." She couldn't ever begin to figure out how to put into words what she was feeling.

"It's okay." Auri said, scooting forward like a little crab. She hugged Flareup. "You were a good example the second time." She said encouragingly.

"Aww… thanks."

"Alright," Ironhide said. "Time to cheer up now."

"I'm cheerful!" Auri announced, hopping up.

"I'm ready to be cheerful." Flareup added as she rose. "Prowl looks completely out, though; can't say if he's cheerful or not."

Ironhide chuckled. "It's safe to say he will not be cheerful if we wake him; we'll let him sleep."

"We could prank him."

"No!" Auri wasn't about to let that happen.

"No pranks." Ironhide said, but he grinned at the thought.

"Game!" Auri said, "Let's play a game."

"I'm in." Flareup said instantly.

Ironhide hesitated; his day had been long and he was starting to feel it. "I'll play as long as it is nothing too strenuous." He decided. "What game had you in mind?"

Auri sat down to think. "I don't know… you always know grand ones, though."

Flareup chuckled as she sat as well. "A quarter of the time he just makes them up right before we start playing."

Ironhide sat on the floor and leaned his back on the table leg.

"Make one up for us, please!" Auri asked eagerly as she climbed on Ironhide. He said he would and then gave it some thought while Auri rubbed his shoulders.

"I've got it." He said finally, and he instantly had the femmes' full attention. He brought out a box from his subspace and set it on the floor. Auri was there immediately to peer inside.

"Cannon parts?" she asked.

"Indeed," he said, shaking them out on the floor.

Flareup picked up two pieces. "Parts of _several_ cannons. We're going to do his work for him."

Ironhide smiled but said nothing as he pushed a third of the pile in her direction and a third in Auri's, taking the last for himself.

"We'll have to ask each other for different of parts of our cannons," he explained, for each pile had parts of each the cannons.

"But they come at a price?" Flareup guessed, her optics lighting up.

"Truth or Dare?" Auri asked eagerly.

"I don't even get to make up the rules for my own game…" Ironhide faked chagrin.

"I like it!" Flareup said, grinning at Auri.

"Okay," Ironhide said. The femmes were ready. "Go!" he said.

There were several minutes of quiet while everybody worked on starting to put together their cannons.

"I need that piece," Auri said presently, pointing to one in Flareup's pile.

"Truth or Dare?" Flareup asked as Ironhide gave her a slight warning look.

"Trrrr… um, Dare. Yeah, Dare."

"Kiss Prowl on the hand." She said promptly; she'd already had this one planned.

"No!" Auri squeaked, shocked.

"Come on! He's completely out!" Flareup coaxed, her optics sparkling.

Auri frowned and considered this. Then she went over to Prowl. She paused and gave Flareup a dark look and then took Prowl's hand. She gave Ironhide as look, but the mech was grinning in amusement and not about to stop or save her.

Auri planted a kiss on the palm of Prowl's hand and then dashed back to get the cannon piece.

"Okay, so I need this piece," Flareup said to Auri after handing her the piece she'd wanted.

"Truth or _Dare_!" Auri challenged.

"Dare!"

"Kiss him on the foot!" She pointed to Prowl.

"FOOT!"

"It's not like we're bothered by germs."

"Ahhhhrrrg….!" Flareup got up.

Ironhide was trembling with suppressed laughter.

Flareup looked back at them then she bowed and kissed oblivious Prowl's foot.

It was Ironhide's turn now. He raised an optic-ridge. "I need this piece, Auri, and I'll go with Truth."

"Truth… Truth… um…" Suddenly she grinned. "Did you ever pull a terrible prank on a liaison and really wished you hadn't?"

"Indeed." Ironhide took his piece. That had been an easy and painless question, but he realized that she was setting things up for future questions.

"Dare," Flareup said, pointing to a piece in Ironhide's pile.

"Dance on the table."

She smacked him on the head she went past, but she climbed up on the table and pranced a few steps before hopping down and taking her piece.

"I choose Truth," Auri said.

"Do you think Tracks is cute?" Ironhide asked.

Auri gasped. "H… his body is pretty c-cute," she stuttered when she'd regained her composure, "But his whole snobby attitude stinks, completely erasing any attractiveness he might have."

Flareup clapped her hands. Then Ironhide grinned and handed two pieces to Auri. "Good answer." He said.

Then he chose a dare from Auri.

"I dare you to reveal the nature of the prank." she replied. She'd taken a 'truth' question and changed it into a 'dare.'

Ironhide covered his face. "I painted a red octopus on his black car, and spray-painted, 'Heil Hydra' across it." He admitted and winced as the femmes erupted into laughter and giggles. (*)

Once they calmed down, Auri chose dare from Flareup.

"Kiss the bot who's coming in the door."

"More kissing?" Auri protested. She didn't mind giving her femme guardian a kiss though.

The door opened, however, and it was Bumblebee, not Chromia. The little mech bounced in, playing a line from the Hess truck commercial, "'_The Hess truck's back and it's better than ever!_'"

"Beeeeeee!" Auri squealed, the dare forgotten as she hugged him. "I MISSED YOU!"

"'I am remarkably pleased to see you, my old friend.'" Bee told her with a line from _Star Trek_ (2009).

"Oh." Auri said flatly, "I have to kiss you."

Bee buzzed in perplexed surprise and straightened up.

"It's Truth or Dare." Auri explained uncomfortably.

Bee held out his hand. Auri giggled and kissed it.

"Uh-oh…" Flareup said under her breath. She was going to have to kiss Bee's foot, most likely. Ironhide chuckled mercilessly.

"Hey!" Bee exclaimed, spotting Flareup. He scampered over, and she met him part way with a hug that nearly knocked him off his feet.

"Bee-zee! I missed you!" she exclaimed.

Then she saw Chromia come in. She squealed in delight, and Bee, with a little chuckle, sent her off to hug Chromia.

Bee asked Auri about the cannon pieces on the floor, and she explained the game while Chromia and Flareup quickly caught up with each other.

"Hey," said Chromia when she came with Flareup to where the other three bots were, "We'd have enough for teams if we woke Prowl." She stooped over Ironhide and kissed him soundly. "What do you say?"

"Anything you want me to…" he said, completely distracted by her stooping down like that, "I mean… uh..."

Flareup grimaced; Ironhide had been quite right in making her cover up.

"I'll wake Prowlie." Chromia said. She went over to the couch and swatted the unsuspecting sleeper on the leg.

"Ar," Prowl shifted positions quickly and woke up.

"Hi, Prowl. Come play this game with us." Chromia said, gently pulling him off the couch by the door-wing.

"What game?" he asked groggily as he stumbled after her and sat down. He gazed at the gun parts.

"This one we made up." Ironhide said and then explained it.

Prowl was wide-awake now. He flicked his wings back when Ironhide finished off with the 'Truth or Dare?' part. "I completely refuse to kiss or be kissed." he said sternly.

"It's a little late for that." Flareup said. "You got kissed while asleep."

"It is not legal to involve non-participants." he protested.

"It doesn't say that anywhere." Ironhide said, managing to not laugh aloud. "You're Flareup's teammate. Bee's with, Chromia is mine, and it's our turn."

"Whoa! Protest!" Flareup put her hands up. "You and Chromia plotting together will kill us dead."

'Yeah.' Bee agreed.

"Okay, she can be on your team, and Prowl will be on mine."

"Okay." Flareup agreed, and the switch was made. Then she and Chromia took 'dare' from Auri.

"Flareup knows what it is already." Auri said with an extra twinkle in her optics.

"Arrrrrrg." Flareup groaned. Then she scooted over to Bee. "Stick out your foot, Bee-zee."

'Ummm?' Bee wasn't sure about this, but he stuck out his foot. Flareup kissed it then went back to her place. Prowl pretended that he hadn't seen that.

"Truth." Ironhide said to Chromia and Flareup.

"Make Prowl take a turn." Flareup urged.

"Prowl, you go." Ironhide said, turning to his teammate. "You'd better be a good sport." He warned.

Prowl flicked his wings back and lowered them. "Truth." He said begrudgingly.

"Did _you_ ever pull a prank on a liaison?" Flareup asked.

"Indeed not!" the door-wings twitched up in indignation.

Flareup sighed and picked up the cannon piece.

"I think he's lying." Auri said. Bee buzzed in horror, and Flareup raised her optic-ridges.

"Be careful, Auri," Chromia cautioned.

"Prrrowl?" Ironhide questioned, giving him a stern look.

Prowl looked back but soon shifted uncomfortably under the pressure.

"'Liar's forfeit!'" Bee declared.

"Liar's forfeit!" Flareup echoed.

"He's allowed one chance to redeem himself." Ironhide said levelly, still continuing to look steadily at Prowl. "Prowl?"

"I pulled a prank on a whole group of liaisons." Prowl admitted darkly. Flare's whole face light up at the prospect, Bee was intrigued, Chromia was amused and interested, as was Ironhide, and Auri felt badly about calling him on the lie. But she was curious about the prank now.

"Continue," Flareup said. Ironhide nodded; one had to tell a whole lot to redeem a lie.

"They would not cooperate or agree on anything throughout the entire meeting, and it frustrated me beyond belief." Prowl continued, "So, when they went out for lunch, I picked up all their laptops, iPads, Blackberry's, Tablets, etc. and put them in neat stacks.

"Then," Prowl said deliberately, "I took a roll of duct-tape," he paused, wishing everybody would pay this much attention when he was explaining rules and guidelines. It would be SO MUCH simpler and less stressful if they would.

"And…?" Flareup prompted.

"And I taped all of the laptops and things together, creating a rather large sculpture out of them."

"Whhhhhoa…" Flareup was impressed. Everybody else was impressed,too.

"It was very complex." Prowl added.

Ironhide grinned.

"Then," Prowl went on without be told to, "When the liaisons all came back, they had a fit. But after that, they had to calm down and work together. And after they worked together on dismantling the sculpture, they worked together on the project that they had previously been fighting about."

Auri grinned at him, quite delighted with this, and Bee was giving him that admiring look again. Flareup was chuckling softly, and Chromia was extremely pleased.

"You've completely redeemed yourself." Ironhide said, clapping him on the shoulder.

"Thank-you. May I go leave now?"

"AHhhh! That's not the point of the game, Prowliecarz!" Flareup howled.

Prowl jumped up.

Ironhide grabbed Prowl's door-wing and jerked him back down. "Sit." He ordered. "And stay. You can put the cannon together; I'll take the dares and answer the questions." He was of a mind to give Prowl a break even if he did force the younger mech to stay in the game. After all, Prowl had devoted his day to pleasing Auri. "Alright?" he asked.

"Alright." Prowl consented. Ironhide gave him the partial cannon, and he was content as the game went on.

They played until all three cannons were complete. Chromia and Flareup, the daredevil femmes, finished first. Prowl slipped into recharge and rested his head on teammate; Ironhide did fine without his help, though, and managed to come in second. Bee and Auri ended up finishing last, but they had too much fun to mind in the least.

* * *

(*)The red octopus and "Heil Hydra" is a reference to something in _Captain America_. The villain is a group called Hydra and that's their logo. They're pretty wicked.

Okay, I put a poll up on my FanFiction profile. I'm curious to see who everybody's favorite Transformers are. I know I only got some of the characters, but I got the most common ones and put in an "other" category in case you like someone else. Okay? Go vote! :) (Okay, you may have to wait and then vote because the site is updating slowly. I do want to know though!)

And I added a new drawing to deviantART. This one is of a different OC that I have. I haven't finished or posted her story yet, but I will.

http:/ cairistona. deviantart. com/#/ d46oiya


	44. Chapter 44, The Playlist

*GASP* I go back to college next week! O_O

But I have some chapters written ahead, so I should still be able to update now and then. I'm going to miss frequent updates though! :/

* * *

Chapter 44

**The Playlist**

Prowl groaned in frustration as he stood at the door to his office. He was finally back at his office, but his office would be messed up. Ultra Magnus was fairly efficient at handling the office while he, Prowl, was away, but it never was the same or right when he got back.

Magnus always misfiled at least sixteen things every time. He left the data-pads in the wrong place. He would make twenty-nine sticky-notes on the computer to keep track of what he needed to do. –that was fine with Prowl, but PLEASE DELETE THEM WHEN YOU ARE DONE WITH THEM! And the chairs would be moved around and not put back. The top drawers would always be rearranged. At first that had driven Prowl furious, but then he'd realized that Magnus idly rearranged the drawers without thinking while he talked on the phone. That was another thing; Magnus always moved the phone and didn't put it back. And then the dirt tracked in by Magnus's huge feet was considerable, but Magnus never remembered to deploy the cleaner-bot.

The things were just small things, really. But there were so many of them that it was aggravating.

Prowl put out his hand to access the lock and paused as he realized that it was already unlocked. His office was unlocked! He was not pleased in the least. He opened the door and went in, prepared for the usual post-Magnus mess.

There were Sunstreaker and Sideswipe. Sunny was sitting on the floor messing with the cleaner bot, and Sides was in the desk chair, _Prowl's_ chair.

"What is g-…" Prowl started to demand, but he trailed off as he realized that his office was in perfect order. Everything was exactly where it was supposed to be, just as if Magnus had never messed it up in the first place.

Sunny and Sides grinned expectantly.

"You cleaned up?" Prowl asked.

"Indeed, we did!" Sides said with a spin of the chair.

"Oh." This was unexpected. And rather nice. "Ah… thank-you."

"You're welcome." The twins were delighted with this unexpected thank-you.

"Get out of my chair, please." Prowl asked instead of ordered.

"Okay." Sides hopped off. "I wasn't sure exactly how you wanted these drawers done anyway. I don't see inside them much."

"Just that once when you filled them with Jell-O, I believe." Prowl said, taking his seat.

Sunny looked quickly at Sides. They had only _allegedly_ done it; they hadn't actually been caught. "No comment."

"What did you do yesterday that got you thrown in the brig?" Prowl asked as he began sorting the data-pads.

"Oh, that." Said Sunny, putting the cleaner-bot away. "Ultra Magnus had some issues with us being in here, and he put us in _there_ as a precaution."

"Yeah." Sides added. "He brigged us when he caught us in here when he came in. We cooled our parts for about an hour before we were cleared. Then later in the afternoon Mags threw us in again for creating a disturbance."

Prowl rolled his optics. Magnus and the twins… Magnus would brig them at the drop of a hat. Any hat.

"So, you were the one who taped up the liaisons' laptops?" Sides asked.

Prowl froze. Oh, but of course Flareup would have told them about that. "Yes, I was. It served to make a point." He added deliberately with a look at the twins.

"Cool." Then the twins decided they should leave before he decided to make a point with them. "Well, see you later, Prowl. We've got stuff to do."

"Okay." Prowl said, "Catch you later." He added as they went out the door.

"Did he just make a pun/joke thing about 'catching' us?" Sides whispered to Sunny.

"I think he did."

"Dude…!" The twins went off, and Prowl went to work.

There were many phone-calls to handle. Magnus was usually only able to handle about half of the calls –just because he wasn't familiar with everything in Prowl's office.

Prowl missed Auri coming early. She was really good with the phone. She would be in later, though. Meanwhile, he kept having to put people on hold.

"Please hold." …

"Just a moment, please; I will have to put you on hold." …

"I am sorry, please hold." …

"Please hold; I need to transfer your line." …

He got tired of saying it. Auri enjoyed it. She made a game of it; sometimes she put on different accents if she had to say the same thing over and over again. She didn't get tired of it.

Finally, right on time, Auri came in.

"Good-morning!" she greeted him cheerfully.

"Good-morning," he replied. It was odd seeing her in black, grey, and white again after seeing her in bright colors all day yesterday. He liked the monotones better, though.

"Have we lots of stuff to catch up on?" Auri asked as she started her computer.

"Yes."

"Oh! What happened here?" She exclaimed. "Ah, Ultra Magnus decided to put everything in folders on the desktop." She realized aloud before Prowl could answer. "That way nothing would get misfiled, I guess. Shall I file them properly first thing?" she asked Prowl.

"You may, but give first priority to the phone. It has been 'ringing off the hook.'"

"Phone first it is." Auri chirped.

Then Prowl could relax and do all his piles of paperwork, sort folders, and file things to his spark's content. This he liked.

And Auri enjoyed the phone.

"Hello-a! Why ofa course. You'll have a to waita just a leetle. Holda please?" …

"Hey? Aw… you bet, honey. It's gonna be a whyall. Hold awn a bit please?" …

"'Ello? Why certainly, duck. It will be just moment. Hold please?" …

"Hello? Indeed, vee can do zat. It vill be a little vwhile. Hold pleas." …

Prowl looked up. "Do not get too carried away." He reminded gently.

"Yes, sir." She said. She was usually careful.

"'Ello?" she was back to faking a British accent.

"_Auri_?" William Lennox's voice asked.

"Yes, sir." Auri answered. She looked at little embarrassed by getting caught by Lennox.

The man chuckled. "I'm guessing the phones are busy today." He knew her little game.

"Indeed they are. Ah, Liaison crabbiness is calling. -Hold please."

"'Kay." Will said, and Auri left him to tend to the liaison's wishes.

Will Lennox listened to the song that was playing and an amused smirk touched his mouth. It certainly wasn't one the usual classical pieces that he'd had to endure on previous holds. The next song started and he chuckled.

Then Auri was back, and she helped him find the file that he needed. "See you later, little one." He said when things were settled.

"See you later." She said then hung up the phone.

Auri took several more phone calls and worked on her computer more.

"I've taken care of all Magnus's files." She said presently.

"Good." Prowl said, frowning at his data-pad. "Phone…"

Auri grabbed the phone. "Hello?"

"Hello again!" William Lennox said, and he sounded semi-repentant and semi-amused. "I'm thinking you might want to check the 'hold' playlist."

"Oh…?"

"Yeah. Just thought I'd mention it."

"Okay, thank-you."

"No problem. Bye now."

"Bye." She looked around after she hung up the phone. "That was strange." She said to Prowl.

"What?"

"Lennox said we should check our 'hold' playlist."

Prowl stiffened noticeably. "Is there a problem with it?"

"He didn't say. He just thought he should mention it."

Prowl pulled up the playlist on the computer. There the songs and composers were listed in each audio-file. There was some soft jazz and a number of classical pieces, mostly quiet, refined songs with no words, the kind played in expensive elevators and on tedious weather stations. "I see nothing wrong…" Prowl commented.

He clicked 'Play' on one of the files on a whim.

Miley Cyrus's voice came over the speakers

"_HEY-! Stop trying to live my life for me  
I need to breath, I'm not your _robot_  
Stop telling me I'm a part of the big _machine_  
I'm breaking free, can't you see  
I can't love, I can't speak  
Without somebody else operating me  
You gave me eyes, and now I see  
I'm not your _robot; I'm just ME! _…_"

Prowl paused the song, and he and Auri gazed at each other with perplexed looks.

"That is clearly not Chopin's Nocturne in E Flat." Prowl said with a barely suppressed shudder.

"Not by a _long_ shot!" Auri answered, her optics wide with surprise.

Prowl experimentally clicked 'play' on another song, hoping that it was Mozart as the title said.

"_Computers! reflect us! They help us to communicate!  
Computers! reflect us! They help us to communicate!  
Computers! reflect us! They help us to communicate!  
Computers! reflect us! They help us t- …_"

The pause button received a forcible click. Prowl grimaced. Definitely not Mozart.

"They really couldn't think of any other words to add?" Auri asked, amazed.

"Apparently." Prowl said. Then he really frowned. "Are all the songs tampered with?" He braced himself and played the next song, one of Beethoven's.

"_We-are-charging-our-battery-  
And-now-we're-full-of- energy  
We-are-the-robots, -We-are-the-robots  
We-are-the-robots, -We-are-the-robots …_"

Not Beethoven.

"The voice reminds me of Soundwave's voice: all synthetic and monotonic." Auri said with a little shiver.

Prowl mentally glared at Soundwave for frightening Auri when she first came to earth. Then he played the next song with grave apprehension.

"_Precious metal lines / Molded into highways  
Running through me / So microscopically  
Days and nights / Weeks and months and seasons  
Rolling through me / So chronologically.  
Computer age / computer age / Computer age_…"

"Eeeee-moe." Auri said, not impressed.

"What?" Prowl was lost.

"Emo." She said simply.

"Ah." Prowl looked up 'emo' on the Urban dictionary and made a face. "Well…"

"What did Bach do?" Auri asked. Prowl frowned at her. "I'm curious." She said.

Prowl paused. He did have to admit that it was a little intriguing that humans had written a number of computer or robot-related songs.

He shrugged slightly and clicked play.

"_I'm not a robot without emotions, I'm not what you see  
I've come to help you with your problems so we can be free  
I'm not a hero, I'm not a savior, forget what you know  
I'm just a man who's circumstances went beyond his control  
Beyond my control, We all need control  
I need control, We all need control  
I am the modern man (Secret secret, I've got a secret)  
Who hides behind a mask (Secret secret, I've got a secret)  
So no one else can see (Secret secret, I've got a secret)  
My true identity  
Domo arigato, Mr. Roboto  
Domo, Domo  
Domo Arigato, Mr. Roboto…_"

"That was strange." Auri said with a giggle.

Prowl nodded. "We shall have to completely remake our 'hold' playlist."

"Is it hard?" Auri asked.

"No. It is simply time consuming."

"Oh." Auri said. "What song is next?" she asked.

Prowl suspected that they might be getting distracted. Yesterday Auri had been the center of his attention, he'd almost everything she's wanted, and now the habit was still clinging to him to a small degree. He knew he could put a stop to it at any moment he wanted to.

Auri looked very hopeful.

Prowl gave a small a mental shrug and played the next song.

"S_he's gotta be strong to fight them  
So she's taking lots of vitamins_

_'Cause she knows that  
It'd be tragic  
If those evil robots win  
I know she can beat them_

_Oh Yoshimi, they don't believe me  
But you won't let those robots defeat me  
Yoshimi…"_

Auri frowned. "That's disturbing."

"'Yoshimi Battles the Pink Robots'…?" Prowl found the actual title.

Auri was rather indignant. "What's wrong with pink robots!"

"It is only a song." He said quickly, hoping she wasn't offended.

"Songs usually have deeper meanings, anyway." She noted. "It's probably not even about robots at all."

Prowl raised an optic-ridge.

"Maybe the next song will be better." Auri said hopefully.

Prowl was ready to be done with this weirdness. He relented, though, not wanting the last song on her mind to be a negative one.

The song was in Swedish. But the bots easily translated it.

"_I know a bot,  
Her name is Anna, Anna is her name  
And she can ban, ban you so hard  
She cleans up in our channel  
I wanna tell you, that I know a Bot _

_That always watches everyone here  
And makes us out of trouble  
There is no Take-over that succeeds  
Remember that it's I who know this Bot _

_The bot that no one else can beat  
She kicks when she wants to  
She kicks all of the spammers  
Yes, nothing can beat our Bot…_"

Auri giggled, liking the lyrics, as well as the synthesizer and the beat.

Prowl smiled half-heartedly. He was really, _really _ready to stop listening to all this stuff now, though.

"One more, _please?_" Auri coaxed.

Prowl sighed. Auri looked very, very hopefully. "This is the absolute last one." Prowl said, and Auri beamed happily at him as he hit 'play.'

The song was bouncy and lively.

"_I am a robot! Living like a robot! Talk like a robot, in the habitating way!  
Look up to the sky! (Robot!), You can't trample over me! (Robot!)  
Do anything you do, now the ground has gone!_

_I am a robot! Living like a robot! Talk like a robot, in the habitating way!  
In the future we all die! (Robot!), machines will last forever! (Robot!)  
Metal things just turn to rust, when you're a ROBOT!_

_I am a robot! Living like a robot! Talk like a robot, in the habitating way!  
The best thing is our life span! (I don't mind!)  
We last nigh on hundred years! (I don't mind!)…_"

'I mind…' Prowl thought. This was giving him a processor ache. Auri was bouncing to the beat though. Prowl stopped the song and labeled the folder where the files were as "Contaminated."

"Find a few acceptable songs, Aurion, and put them on the hold playlist. They will repeat, but hopefully we will get back to the caller before he or she tires of them."

"Will do." Auri said as she returned to her computer.

When her shift was done, she went out to find Sunny and Sides. She found them loafing on one of the quieter streets.

"Hello," she greeted.

"Hi!" They grinned and gave her a hug each. "So, how was the day off?"

"It was great!" she answered.

"We totally would have kept you company, but ol' Magnus kept throwing us in the brig."

"Be nice to Ultra Magnus." She said reproachfully.

"Okay-dokey."

Flareup came driving up the street and pulled up.

"So, I'm here." She said, "Are you ready to hit the race track?"

"You bet I am!" Auri replied.

"Woo-hooo! Yip!" The twins whooped. "YEAH!"

"They express it primitively, but I get their meaning." Flareup said teasingly.

The twins chuckled and then transformed. Auri transformed as well, and they set off for the race-track, the two mech leading, and the two femmes following. Flareup took the rear so little Auri wouldn't be last.

"Hey, Flare!" Sides called back, "You ready to get your tail whipped?"

"I'm ready for anything, Sideswipe, especially for putting smarty-parts mechs back into their places."

"Hah! We'll see. I lay a high-grade you won't finish first."

"You're on!"

Once on the track, the four sports-cars lined up.

"All ready?" Sunny asked.

"READY!" the others yelled.

"On your mark. Get set. GO!" They took off, squealing tires.

Auri took lead first thing.

'Don't underestimate her,' Flareup warned herself. Soon she was busy messing with Sides, though.

Sunny had to deal with Auri. Auri had gotten better, that he saw immediately. Chase practice with Prowl had probably done it.

The little Audi was fast; now she was more aggressive, too.

"PAINT!" Sunny howled when her fender grazed his bumper as she cut him off. Wincing slowed him, and his brother and Flareup passed him.

He fought to catch up. Flare wasn't going to let him back into the race, though. Nor was Sides. And Flareup was giving Sides a hard time, too.

Then Flareup saw that Auri was going to win if she kept harassing Sides. Good-bye Sideswipe. She left him alone and headed for Auri. Auri was the new target, the more serious competition.

Auri swiftly fell back under Flareup's attention. Then Sides was Flareup's competition again.

Flareup had the finish-line in her sights. Auri blazed past her on the outside.

"AH!" Flareup yelled as she came in second.

Sides pulled in third, and Sunny came in last.

"My painnnnnnt!" Sunny wailed.

"Oh, boo-hoo!" Sides laughed and gave his brother a shake.

"Sorry about that, Sunny." Auri apologized earnestly. "I really didn't mean to do that."

"Aw, it's okay." Sunny said, not wanting to make her feel bad,

"So, Flareup," Sides said, "It looks like you own me a high-grade."

"I beat you, though." Flareup pointed out.

"That wasn't my bet. My bet was that you wouldn't be the one in first place."

Flareup put her hands on her head and chuckled.

"Okay, okay, I admit defeat," she said good-naturedly, "And I will treat you to a high-grade as promised."

They ran several more races after some discussion. Auri won none of them, for the twins got into their tricks and kept her back. Flareup managed to win once, Sides took two wins, and Sunny took one.

"Pretty fair." Sunny said as the four of them walked to the pub.

"Fair!" Flareup exclaimed. "The way you two tricked and lied to Auri, I'm surprised she wasn't driving the opposite direction!"

"Oh, come on!" Sides laughed.

"And you're silly for listening to them." Flareup told Auri. "When they start up stories during a race, you shut them up or shut them out."

"Okay. I'll wise up to them on the track." Auri said. Flareup's blunt criticism smarted a little.

"Hey," Flareup said more gently, "You did do well out there. I'm wanting you to be able to better. 'Kay?"

"'Kay." Auri said, and the hurt was patched up.

The twins opened the pub doors and let the femmes in first. Flareup selected a table, and they all sat down.

Mirage appeared out of nowhere, startling them. Auri giggled at being surprised like that.

"Might I take your orders?" Mirage asked, giving Auri a smile of appreciation for giggling at his trick.

"High-grade with coolant." Flareup said. It'd be nice after the heat and exertion of racing.

"Okay." Mirage said, "Aurilaze?"

"Sweet Energon." She said promptly with a smile.

"What?" Flareup asked. "Have a high-grade."

The twins opened their mouths to protest, but Auri shook her head. "I don't drink high-grade yet." She said.

Flareup ducked her apologetically. "Sorry I said it. You're such a good sport about us beating you up on the track that I'd forgotten that you were still so young."

"It's okay." Auri said, giving her a fond smile. Flareup was much nicer than any of her former room-mates even though she was of similar age.

"Alright. So, is there something extra you would like with your sweet Energon?" Flareup asked, eager to treat her little friend to something special, albeit not high-grade.

"Copper flecks." Auri said, quite delighted.

Flareup chuckled. "I may want to take it from you; that sounds _really_ good."

"Okay, Sweet-E with copper flecks." Mirage said. "Twins?"

"High-grade with coolant." Said Sunny.

"Ditto." Said Sides, smirking.

Mirage vanished into thin air. And Auri giggled again.

"What?" Flareup asked.

"She's inordinately amused with Mirage's ability to disappear." Sides explained drily.

"Hmph. So is Mirage."

The twins chuckled. And Auri tried to figure that one out.

Mirage reappeared a short while later, this time bearing four small Energon cubes.

"H.G.C. for you," he said to Flareup, placing a cube before her.

"Thanks, 'Razhey. You know I really do like you even if I do tease."

"Oh, yes. That's _how_ I know."

"AHH!" "WOOH!"

"Shut-up, twins."

"Sweet-E for a sweetie." Mirage said, giving Auri her cube. The liquid energy sparkled ever so slightly with pink flecks of copper.

"Thank-you," Auri said with delight.

"Twins." Mirage said, and gave them their high-grades.

"Thank-you." They both said. Then Mirage disappeared.

The bots sipped their Energon a little, and then they started talking. Conversation was the main thing they were there for; Energon was just something on the side.

When Prowl came into the pub, Flareup had just made the twins roar with laughter, and Auri was flopped helplessly against Flareup's shoulder, shaking with giggles. They didn't notice Prowl until he sat down at their table.

"Ah, hello, Prowl." Sunny said, straightening up and wiping _most_ of the laugh off his face. Sides was still chuckling.

"Hello," Prowl said, taking out a data-pad.

"Are we in trouble?" Flareup asked as Mirage brought Prowl a regular small Energon cube.

"Thank-you, Mirage. No, Flareup you are not in trouble. Nor is Aurion."

"You wouldn't deprive two nice femmes of their company, would you?" Sides asked; evidently he and Sunny were in trouble.

"It all depends on how well my lunch break goes." Prowl said meaningfully.

"Spill the beans, Prowlie." Flareup ordered.

"Prowlllll." Prowl corrected.

"Prowlllll-ie."

"Stop it, Flare!" Sunny yelped, "You'll rile him, and then where will we be?"

"The brig." Auri said calmly then sipped her sweet Energon.

"Prowl. Talk to us, please." Flareup said, knowing that this would work the best.

"Somebody tampered with the telephone 'hold' playlist." Prowl said.

Flareup grinned at the thought of that.

Prowl went on. "While the computer and robot themed songs may be interesting and amusing to some parties, to play them is rather undiplomatic and unprofessional. It can be hurtful to us as well. Some of the songs are anti-robot, or display robots in a negative light, giving us a bad image. Or," Prowl gave Auri a quick look, "like 'Yoshimi Battles the _Pink_ Robots,' they are personally hurtful to certain bots in our community."

The twins' optics widened. They looked slightly devastated.

"Oh, _Auri_!" Sides exclaimed, "I'm so sorry!"

"We never even _thought_ of that!" Sunny added, "We love and care for you," he left his chair to hug her. "We'd never intentionally post a mean song targeting you!" he told her.

"It's okay," Auri said, smiling against his shoulder. She hadn't been quite _that_ bothered by the song. It was terribly sweet of him to be upset about it though. … Sweet of Prowl to bring it up, too.

"So," said Prowl. Sunny went back to his seat, and Prowl went on. "The playlist needs to be rebuilt. It is time consuming, and I find it tedious. Therefore, if somebody will take over the task, and do it well and in a proper manner, I will have a very good lunch-break, and no one will be punished for tampering with the list."

Sunny and Sides looked at each other. This was fair. "You have two volunteers, Prowl." Sides said.

"Very good." Prowl replied.

"I'll help them." Flareup said. "I didn't help them with their prank." She added.

"I know you did not." Prowl said. "Your alibi is sound, and I happen to know of several songs that only _you_ would have included had you been a part of the prank."

Flareup smirked for a second.

"I can help, too."Auri offered.

"You're staying to watch us! You don't trust us?" Flareup pretended to be hurt.

"Uh…"

"Don't answer that, Aurilaze." Sunny said. "She's just teasing. We'll be glad to have your help."

"Okay." Auri smiled. Flareup gave her a snuggle to let her know that it was all in fun.

"Good." Said Prowl. "Let me know when you are done."

"Yes, sir." Sunny said, and the others nodded.

Prowl took his data-pad and Energon and left.

"Classical muuuuusiiiiiick." Sides moaned. "Ick."

"What's wrong with classical music?" Auri asked.

"It has its merits." Flareup told the mech.

"Like good for falling asleep to." Sides muttered.

"Do the people really want to listen to just classical music?" Sunny asked.

His question was met with thoughtful silence.

"I don't know." Flareup said after a moment. Auri shrugged, and Sides shook his head.

"I have no idea." Sides said, "Why?"

"There are a huge amount of different music genres," Sunny explained, "Surely people didn't make them all up because they only wanted to listen to classical music. I'm thinking we could give them a choice."

"Umm…" Auri wasn't sure that Prowl would like where this was going.

"Wait until I finish explaining the whole thing before you start voicing your objections, Miss Prowlette."

Auri's mouth formed a little O. She wasn't sure whether to be affronted at the rudeness of name-calling, or delighted with being likened to the idolized commander. She went with the second choice and a little amused look brightened her face.

"As I was saying," Sunny continued, relieved that he hadn't upset her, "We could give the caller a choice between several different genres. Just the basic ones… Ah…" he paused while he accessed the internet, "Okay, the most basic ones are Classical, Electronic, Pop, Blues, Country, Jazz, Rock, and Folk. So, 'Press 1 for Classical,' 'Press 2 for Electric,' 'Press 3 for Pop,' and so on." He finished and looked around at his companions. They were interested.

"I like the idea." Sides said.

Flareup nodded.

"I guess it would be alright…" Auri liked the idea, but she wasn't sure if she was being tricked into something or not. The twins could be very conniving.

"No tricks at all, I promise." Sunny told her solemnly.

"Okay, then." Auri said. "I like it."

Auri brought out her data-pad, and they compiled lists of songs while they finished their Energon. Suggestions flew back and forth, and stories were related. Jokes were cracked, and an all around good time was had as they worked on the project. Auri laughed so hard at times that she couldn't write, and Sides nearly choked on his high-grade once. Sunny had the best stories, but Flareup told hers better. Time passed quickly in merriment, and before the bots realized it, their Energon, as well as the lists, were done.

Now they had to sell the idea to Prowl. He would be harder to convince that Auri had been.

The foursome went to Prowl's office.

Prowl eyed them when they entered. What were they up to?

"We're here to introduce a great new and innovative idea." Sunny said in a sales-pitch tone. "It will renovate the whole entire waiting on-hold-experience that callers inevitably dread,"

"What is it precisely?" Prowl didn't have patience for this sort of thing.

Sunny rolled his optics, and then explained in short what the plan was.

"And we have a song list for you to approve." He motioned to Auri, who gave Prowl the data-pad with the list of songs.

Prowl took the data-pad and looked at it, his optics scanning the songs as he considered the idea. It belonged to the twins, but it wasn't bad. He knew that Lennox didn't care for classical music. The twins' proposition _seemed_ like it would be acceptable.

Auri, watching Prowl closely, recognized the slight change in his optics as he made the decision. She smiled.

"You may do this." Prowl said, looking up from the lists. "But, mind you, this will be closely monitored."

"Understood." The twins chorused.

Sunny went to the extra computer and went to work. Sides and Flareup stood by to annoy him and chat with each other.

Auri went and sat on a chair and watched Prowl work. After a little while he noticed that she was still just watching him.

"Have you nothing better to do?" he asked, not looking up.

"No, sir. I'm a just little tired, and I'm waiting for my friends to go with me back to my home."

Prowl felt that little tug at his spark again, that one he'd felt when she'd told him her doll's name.

He glanced across the room at the other bots. "Do they know that you are waiting?" he asked gently.

She shook her head. "I don't mind waiting."

"Alright." He wondered if there was something he should or could do.

She gave him that little smile that told him he was a good friend. He nodded to the smile and then went back to his work.

"Prowl?" she asked a few minutes later.

He turned to her, "Yes?"

"Were the laptops really, really sticky after the liaisons pulled the tape off?"

Prowl's door-wings twitched up. How did she come up with these questions? And why did she have to bring his prank up? He lowered his wings. He supposed he'd have to deal with this for a long time now that Flareup had told the twins, who no doubt told everybody.

Auri raised her optic-ridges, worried by the pause that she might have upset him by asking.

"They were somewhat sticky." Prowl replied on seeing the little concerned frown. "But they were able to remove the residue." He added.

"Okay." She was content with that.

Prowl tried to work some more, but he kept thinking about his prank.

"I suppose I will never live that prank down, now." He commented aloud.

"No…" Auri said thoughtfully, "Not unless you pull an even more spectacular one."

"Sp-spectacular?"

Auri nodded. "It was spectacular, you know."

"I did not know."

"Well, you do now." She said, copying one of his patient, gentle tones.

He half-smiled at that. Then he looked in a drawer and found something.

"Here," he said, holding out a small data-pad. "Entertain yourself with this instead of me."

She took it, turned it on, and then let out a small cry of delight. It was full of puzzles. She liked puzzles. She settled into her chair more comfortably and began working on one. It was a logic puzzle and rather difficult for her young logic system, but as she worked, new pathways were built in her system.

Prowl watched for a moment, and then turned back to his work, pleased.

I still have the poll "Who is your favorite Transformer?" up on my FAnFiction profile, so go vote! XD Prowl has half the votes at this points... :D

* * *

Well, I've tried my hand at drawing a sparkling. I like how he turned out. In fact, after the first one, I did two more. All three were Prowl. Yus, sparkling Prowl! So, if you need a little dose of Prowlie cuteness, go on to my deviantART page and check out my newest pics. http:/ cairistona. deviantart. com/

* * *

As for all those songs the twins used, here are the artists, listed in order of appearance.

"Robot" - Miley Cyrus. (I found it by Googling "Lyrics Robot." I'd never heard her before.)

"R.P.M." -Age of Jets. (Random weird song that showed up on Pandora. I think it got thumbed down.)

"The Robots" –Kraftwerks. (It was from the 1980's, and YouTube suggested after I listened to Gary Numan's "In Cars." It was weird.)

"Computer Age" -Neil Young. (Found by Googling "Lyrics Computer." Never heard it before; don't mind if I don't hear it again.)

"Mr. Roboto" –Queen. (Heard it on the radio and started to smile.)

"Yoshimi Battles the Pink Robots" –The Flamingo Lips. (Another weird Pandora song.)

"Boten Anna" –Basshunter. (One of my favorite songs! Basshunter is one of my favorite artists.)

"(Living Like a) Robot" –Futureheads . (Found the same way I found the Miley song. Only I like this one better.)


	45. Chapter 45, What You Feel

Hi, everybody! My first day back at college was good. And so with the start of school, the updates to this story will be once a week at best, or every other week if I'm busy, or now and then as my schedule permits.

* * *

Chapter 45

**What You Feel**

The pavement melted away swiftly as Auri raced with Bumblebee and the twins. Bumblebee was in the lead, and the twins were just behind Auri, having gotten delayed a couple seconds by a brief argument.

Auri wondered who would win this race, for they weren't on their race track at home; they were out on a mountain road. Ironhide and Hound had been sent out on a scout mission, and Auri had asked if she could leave base with them, wanting to see more of the planet. Naturally, the twins had insisted they go along to look after Auri while Ironhide was busy, and Bee wasn't about to stay behind. Flareup had wanted to come as well, but she was knee-deep in writing reports on her off-planet trip, and Prowl had refused to give her clearance to leave the base until they were done.

With how well Auri had progressed since her arrival, and the three mechs to look after her, Ironhide had found no reason to say no.

Auri figured that Bee would probably come in last. For, while he was very fast, he was not nearly as practiced in racing as the twins were.

Sunny and Sides had almost equal chances of winning or coming in second.

Auri was determined to win this time. Since Flareup had pointed out that the twins were tricking her on the racetrack, she'd been waiting for a chance to redeem herself for listening to them. She would not fall for ANY of their tricks today.

Physical interference she could handle; being the smallest, she had the best maneuverability. The twins usually ran a little of it, but Bee almost never did.

She passed Bee on the inside of a turn as the twins came up closer. They were going to pass Bee pretty soon, too. She sped up, grinning within herself. They could be beat her forty-nine times out of fifty in battle practice, but she could lick them well in a fair race.

The twins passed Bee and bore down on her. She accelerated a little more. They weren't going to catch her this time. They tried to, but they failed.

She was going to show them, and show them good. She would get back at them for tricking her on the home track and making her look silly in front of Flareup.

Pleasure swept over her as the two sports-cars started to fall back.

::AURI! Slow down for that curve ahead!:: Sunny sent over the intercom. ::Slow down now.::

She laughed at him over the comm.. ::Really, Suns, come on! You think I'll fall for that? I'm winning this one.::

::No, I'm serious!:: Sunny sent back.

::AURI! Slow down! We're DEAD serious.:: Sideswipe added.

She giggled at them, keeping up her speed if not increasing it. She wasn't falling for any of their tricks today.

Bee rounded the last curve and caught sight of Auri and the twins. She was going too fast.

::AURION-BLAZE! YOU SLOW DOWN!:: Bumblebee fairly yelled, a note of terror coming through the line from his end.

She believed him, but then it was too late, and she gasped as she got a full view of the sharp turn. She slammed on her brakes and swerved hard, but it wasn't soon enough to save her. Her side slammed into the thin band of corrugated metal that ran along the side of the road; the metal twisted and broke under the force of her weight hitting it and tore a gash in her door as her alt-mode flipped over the barrier and crashed down on the other side.

"NOOO!" Sunny yelled as Sides screamed in anguish. Bumblebee whimpered. The three young mechs skidded to a stop at the edge, transformed instantly, and looked down with horror.

Auri's car mode would not stop rolling. The mountainside was steep and mostly bare, littered with rocks, boulders and gravel. Over and over her alt-mode went, picking up speed as small rocks scattered and slide. Her rear fender hit a boulder and the impact sent her sailing. She transformed as she fell, as if she was hoping she could stop her descent if she was in a less roll-prone shaped.

They knew she was going too fast to stop, no matter what shape she took. She kicked and thrashed, trying to grab something, anything as she crashed and slid down the mountainside. The twins felt sick to their very cores, and Bumblebee hid his face. NO! They had come along with her to protect her; they had been racing for fun. Now she was falling down the mountain, getting torn and battered. She could get killed this way if she sustained too much damage. Bee let out of soft keen on anguish.

::Ironhide…:: Sunny sent over the comm., setting it so Sides and Bee could read and comment as well.

::Ironhide here,:: Ironhide sounded slightly apprehensive, ::What's up?::

Sunny and Sides traded looks.

::You need to come to our coordinates at once.:: Sunny sent, ::Auri… took at curve too fast.::

::Is she hurt?::

::Yes.:: Sunny replied. He was feeling sicker than ever; Auri had stopped fighting. Her form slammed into a tree, which finally halted her fall.

::On my way. Out.::

The twins slowly began picking their way down the slope, zigzagging. Bumblebee put his head up and saw that they were going and that Auri was lying motionless on her side against a tree. He followed the twins.

Auri numbly felt relieved that she stopped falling, but the pain in her body screamed so loudly that she could hardly feel any emotion.

The pain was incredible; she'd never felt anything so intense before. Every part of her hurt. Everything was black, too. She felt like she was suspended between consciousness and torture. She felt like she was burning up, but she also felt frozen. Panic threatened her. Horror over what could or might happen to her washed over her like the crushing, drowning waves of the ocean. Only it was twenty times as terrifying as the ocean that Prowl had put her in, and there was no Prowl here to carry her out and calm her.

She tried to scream for help, but there was no power left do so. She couldn't stand it –she was going to go insane- she was going to die – or worse, get attacked- and -

Then everything drew back; the pain lessened, the panic slipped away, the feelings softened so that they were bearable. She sighed with relief, recognizing the signs of her emergency programming kicking in. She was surrounded by blackness, but she could sense everything around her. Radio programs floated by, benign and senseless; TV signals with images were waiting to be picked up. Cell phone conversations were faint hums here and there; if she had wanted to listen, she could have. All those were soft buzzings, like distant bugs on a summer day. What came through strongly, though, were the three Cybertronian life forms that were working their ways towards her.

These three were upset and frightened, terrified and distraught.

She could sense Bumblebee the strongest. He was very upset that she was hurt, angry at himself for not being able to stop her from getting hurt, and he was terrified that she might be offline. He was ready to cry, and he felt as if his own form had been mauled by the mountainside.

Sunny and Sides were so similar that she could almost not distinguish which one was which. She picked up their anguish that she was hurt, and their fear that she was offline. They both dreaded telling Ironhide more than anything. They would actually rather be picked up by Decepticons than to have to face Ironhide.

"Oh, Auri…" they were around her now. Sunny was touching her face gently, devastated at the mistake they had made of not warning her about racing on mountains.

Bee was afraid to ask, so very afraid to ask if she was online.

"I'm so sorry…" Sides murmured.

"_S-she's…?_" Bee stuttered with his own voice.

"She's online." Sunny said, "But so weak…"

Sides deployed a medical scan, and Auri sensed his horror when it returned to him.

"Th-the bruising… s… extensive." he choked out. She wanted to hug and encourage him, tell him she'd be alright. She couldn't move though.

"Here… she's leaking energon; we need some patches…"

Auri sensed her friends calm down as they applied small force field patches to her worst wounds. They had forced themselves to calm down so that they could work. Bee calmed down because Ironhide was coming to take control, but he also dreaded seeing their guardian upset.

It was strange to perceive her friend's feelings. She only ever sensed strangers and Decepticons before. She'd always been alone before. She'd never had friends with her when her emergency system had come on. She'd been completely alone when her sixth apartment had been bombed. The rubble had bruised and cut her, and a beam had cracked her arm. Her emergency system had come on then. It had let her sense the looting Decepticons, and she'd known to not call for help. There had been other times, too, that she'd had access to it as well. But she didn't want to remember them.

She wondered if she was going to go offline. It was a frightening thought. Did Bee and the twins know if she was going to die?

In a panic, she reached for their feelings. Sunny and Sides loved her; they loved her as if she was their sister. They had often wanted a sister, and they had found one in her. She was the femme they could be around without having to worry about tricky relationships. The felt completely comfortable around her, and they would gladly give themselves up for her. That made her feel so very special. She loved them, too, as brothers. It was nice to know just how and how deeply they cared, but that didn't tell her anything about her condition.

She focused on Bee. He was her brother. She paused in confusion then reached out again. He was her brother as Sunny and Sides were her brothers, only he felt more strongly about it because they had shared the same guardian and because he had no siblings whatsoever, and Sunny and Sides has each other. She wished she could reach out and hug Bee for being such a sweet friend. That was impossible though. She probed a little more, and found that he was relieved that her condition was fairly stable.

That made her feel much better, almost safe.

A bolt of evil glee flashed through with exaltation. She shuddered. She had just sensed a Decepticon. She'd forgotten how creepy their thoughts were.

There were two Decepticons, and they were very happy. They were gonna maul some pathetic little ground-rolling Autobots, and then they were gonna kidnap a femme and have her for dessert. This was juicy!

She felt very sick now, and frightened, too. She heard her brothers yell. They were angry and frightened at the same time.

The Decepticons jeered and taunted, swooping by just out of reach and laughing.

"Don't fire." One of her brothers ordered the others. "They might shoot back and hit Auri."

"Aw, we're not gonna shoot the little femme," One Con cooed leeringly. "Not now anyway." It landed. Auri felt the tremor come through the earth when he landed, and she felt his intentions. She felt sick.

Sideswipe was enraged. He charged the winged bully only for it to teleport away. He yelled things at it. It reappeared a second later, sniggering.

"Fight on your feet, you cowardly toaster-ovens!" Sunny yelled.

"Toast! HARHARHARHAR! We'll 'toast' you, yah pathetic ground-rollers!" The other winged bully hooted.

Eventually they landed and engaged her brothers. Her brothers were working to move the cons away from where she was lying. They wanted her safe. They knew their odds were not very good, but if they could lead the cons away enough, Ironhide might have time to show up. The Cons were hurting them. She could feel it. Sunny was getting cut up, so was Sides, Bee was getting more bruises than anything. One of the Seekers nearly tore his door-wing off.

It was agony.

Help… they needed help. Ironhide needed to hurry up and arrive.

For a split second, Auri had thoughts about her guardians, but they were too far away. Prowl was too far away as well.

Her brothers were suddenly panic stricken. _'NOOOO!'_ they seemed to scream.

"It's Soundwave!" Sunny yelled in horror.

"BEE!" Sides screamed.

Soundwave…

Auri felt chilled. Soundwave… the one who'd offered to trade Starscream for her that first night that she landed on earth. Did he still want her? What would he do to her?

'Ironhide… Come save me…' she cried. "Please… Ironhide…? Prowl…?'

Bee was coming to defend her. He had no chance, he knew. Auri was panic-stricken. Soundwave was going to kill Bee and still take her.

Bee was fine. He wasn't going to get killed; he was in recharge. He would sleep well and wake a little later.

This new line of thought came from somewhere else. It was glaringly different from what she knew was going on, and it perturbed her.

Her twins were more panicked than ever; they were on the brink of desperation; Sunny was almost ready to cry.

The twins were fine. She shouldn't worry about them.

She scowled and pushed away this other new line of thought. Her brothers were NOT fine, and she knew it. They were trying to defend her from the evil Decepticons that were trying to get to her and hurt her.

The Cons were not going to hurt her. They were not going to get her.

She rejected this other new line of thought. These peaceful thoughts were strange and not true.

Suddenly, as if a door had opened, there was Soundwave. He was crouched beside her. He was trying to allay her fears.

'GO AWAY, CON!' she yelled at him in her thoughts.

'Sh, I will not hurt you.' He replied telepathically.

'GO AWAY! GO AWAY!' she screamed.

'Sh, sh. Gentle, peace.' He seemed to coo.

'Ironhide… come save me!' she cried. 'Ironhide! Prowl! PROWL! IRONHIDE! CHROMIA!'

'Small spark, stop fearing.' The command was issued gently.

'IRONHIDE!' she screamed.

Soundwave frowned behind his visor and mask. She was screaming in terror, rejecting his gentle words. The Cassettes usually wanted to believe him and accepted whatever he told them. She was really fighting him.

She was so small, so perfect, so beautiful. So different from all his Cassettes.

She was very much hurt. He touched her face softly. The cuts and dings stung her, but at least they would not scar. Nothing should damage anything so beautiful.

Her arm was oozing Energon. He patched it gently and skillfully. He had patched his little Cassette warriors many times; he was well used to small work, and he enjoyed it. It was pleasant to work on small things.

Her little door-wings were sorely battered, but they still seemed to remember their loveliness. They could be repaired; they would flit in elegant splendor again.

'Please… don't… hurt… me.' She whimpered to him.

'Never.' He replied. 'Cease tears.' He ordered as she started to cry.

She began to shiver and tremble. Oh, so terrified was she.

Soundwave paused. If he sent comforting thoughts her way again, she would probably continue to reject them. She needed to calm down though. Touch would perhaps work better for communication than thoughts would this time, he decided.

Soundwave picked her up slowly, taking care to not jar her injuries. He cradled the little femme to his chest as he would a hurt Cassette.

Auri felt warmth and reassurance. Peace. Kindness. Safety. Protected. Cared for. She tried to fight, knowing that Soundwave was pushing these thoughts on her. His arms were strong and gentle. He wasn't hurting her or making any advances. Still she tried to fight, but she was too tired, too beaten. He wasn't hurting her. She stopped fighting, and helplessly began to relax, her taunt systems began to slow, and she stopped shivering and trembling.

Good.

Soundwave was pleased with this. He had made the little bot be calm.

Very good.

Soundwave wondered if she would stay calm if he took her away.

He could make her be calm. Little Transformers were easy to control.

Would she be happy if he took her away though?

He could make her be happy. And he would put her with the Cassettes, and they would be pleasant company for her, playmates.

Yes, she would be very happy.

He caressed her face. Soft, very soft.

He reached curiously into her mind, wondering how she liked the Autobots. She liked them, loved them. They were the family she never had. Never lonely. Brothers, three brothers to play with anytime. A cool, albeit a little wild, sister, too. Ironhide… hers and special, never abandoning her. Chromia… girl friend, best friend, supporter and encourager. Elita… role-model and idol. Optimus Prime… amazing and admired. Prowl… totally idolized… awesome… kind… terribly formal, but friendly in his own way. His similarity to her old guardian had drawn her interest to him, but now she liked him for who he was, and he was not at all like her old guardian. She thought of her old guardian from time to time, missing him, wishing she could talk to him, wishing she had some answers. Sometimes she cried because he had left her all alone. Her biggest fear was getting abandoned again. Ironhide would never abandon her though, she knew that. He was her protector and guardian, her valiant defender from all that would hurt her whether physically or emotionally.

Soundwave pulled back from her mind. He was not sure what to think. She still cried because her old guardian had left her. If she clung to her affection of an old guardian who had left, then she would hold onto her present love of the Autobots who had wanted to be with her. He was aggravated at the Autobots.

He wanted this little Transformer, but making her happy would be difficult if she liked the Autobots so much and was so attached.

He felt her emotions. She was happy right now, cuddling against his broad, warm chest-plating. He had deluded her into feeling secure. She was very happy when she felt secure.

Well, he would keep her, and he would make her feel secure; then she would be happy.

Good.

He nodded, pleased with himself, pleased with finding the femme unprotected. Pleased that his weeks of waiting and watching had finally paid off.

_IRONHIDE-__**RAGE!**_

The Weapons Specialist blasted the guard railing into nothingness with his side cannons, and flew over the side of the road with snarl of fury. He transformed midair and landed on his feet, sliding down the shale on the mountainside, triggering little rock slides.

Ironhide was going to kill him without hesitation.

Soundwave hesitated as he watched the incensed guardian approach with fully charged guns. Soundwave wanted the femme, but he also wanted his life.

He could feel the strong bond between the femme and Ironhide. If he killed Ironhide, it would destroy the femme's world. She might not survive the trauma. Then he wouldn't have her.

"Put her down." Ironhide snarled at him, the fury flowing without check. His rage was stronger and more violent than many of the Decepticons'.

It would be best to comply with Ironhide's orders, Soundwave decided. He would continue to watch her and perhaps find her vulnerable again. He could kidnap her at some other time. The bots would probably not let her off their base after this, but after some time they would probably grow careless and lenient again.

Soundwave crouched and carefully laid the femme back down on the ground.

"Any last words?" Ironhide asked, his optics narrow and glowing purple.

Soundwave was slightly stunned. He had been so intent on his plans that he hadn't reached for Ironhide's plans. The guardian meant to kill him for touching his ward.

He couldn't hurt Ironhide without hurting her. He didn't want to hurt her, for he still hoped to be able to kidnap her later. He paused in thought, and then he saw a way out.

"_Regret her death_." He said.

The Con's words slammed Ironhide into momentary immobility. _Auri, dead? NO!_ The Autobot warrior almost reeled back with shot into the sky and was out of range by the time Ironhide had realized that the Con had lied. Auri was still online.

Ironhide dropped to his knees beside Auri, "Oh, my little one," he gasped softly. He brushed her cheek gently.

She slipped into recharge as the twins came limping and stumbling over. Sides could barely stand, and Sunny was struggling to support his brother.

"Is she…?" Sunny could not bear to say the word.

"She's still online." Ironhide said, picking her up gently and cradling her against his chest.

"_BEE!_" Sunny cried, aghast at the sight of Bee crumpled up motionlessly. He put Sides down and stumbled over, "No, no…!"

Bee put his head up drowsily. "_He just put me in a recharge,"_ Bee whispered in his own voice. _"Didn't hurt me._" He added weakly as he lowered his head.

Hound came charging down the mountainside in Jeep mode. He transformed quickly and looked to Ironhide for an explanation of what had happened.

"She's online," Ironhide said softly. That was all that mattered.

Hound looked around. Bee was beaten up and in half-recharge. Sunny was barely standing, and Sides was sitting with his face hidden in his hands. Both twins had a number of damages. He looked back to Ironhide. The near-indomitable Weapons Master was looking terribly shaken and troubled, completely preoccupied with his little charge and not at all in any condition to give orders.

They had nearly lost Auri to Decepticons. That sent chills down Hound's chassis. He went over to Ironhide and put a hand on his arm. "Come on," he said softly. "We're going home."

Ironhide shifted his optics to Hound. Hound was apprehensive, he had no right to tell Ironhide what to do, but Ironhide simply nodded his head.

Hound pulled Bee gently to his feet and helped Sunny support Sides. Then he activated the Land-Bridge, and the six Bots left the mountainside for the safety and medical facilities of N.E.S.T. Base.

* * *

O_O

Yeah… I'm sorry about the cliffhanger thing, but she won't die. And neither will Bee or the twins. :)

I don't have any new drawings really, but I did add a picture of my school notebooks with the custom covers that I put on them. They're Transformers of course. :) I've done three of them: Prowl, Prime, and Ratchet. http:/ cairistona. deviantart. com/art/ Back-to-School- 254298989

Poll for your favorite Transformer is still on my profile... :)

Ardikani4, Silent Hunter, and Zoey Wolf, _where have you gone_? ! I miss you gals! (But I totally understand if you're busy; I am, too. Hope all is well.)

I shall plan to update next Monday. That's all for now, folks! *HUGS* Review! X)


	46. Chapter 46, Finding Out

AH! Do you know how HARD it was to not post the next chapter after I got all those reviews on the last chapter? It was extremely hard! It took an awful lot of self control, but I held off until today as scheduled.

Thanks for all of the reviews on last chapter! They kept making me smile with anticipation of posting this chapter.

And, "StingraysandLambos" I'm so sorry that you had to leave FanFiction, but I'm glad that you'll still get to read it. Will miss you. As for the notebook covers, I'd say the twins could go on a sociology notebook. ;D

* * *

Chapter 46

**Finding Out**

Auri came out of recharge and went from knowing nothing to knowing everything.

Everything was chaos. Her emergency system was still running hard, still telling her everything that was on everybody's processors.

Ratchet was upset and anxious, fretting, feeling frustrated about his lack of control over circumstances.

Jolt was nervous, but maintaining a calm front as he tended the twins.

First Aid was stressed out and pained that his fellows and friends were hurt.

The twins were in recharge, but their emotions were still hurting a bit.

Bee had accepted their plight. He didn't like it much, but he knew that Ratchet would look after them and make it all better.

Ironhide was in recharge, completely stressed out.

Ratchet felt a little better. "She's showing signs of cognitive function," Auri heard his voice say.

His voice woke Ironhide up.

Suddenly everything was completely inundated and drowned out by Ironhide's emotions. They came down like a wave over Auri. He was devastated and one of his worst fears had been realized. Auri felt as if she would drown. She'd known he was protective of her, but she'd never realized just how protective he was of her. There was a fierceness, there, that almost frightened her with its intensity. It was almost frightening the others as well.

Ironhide crouched down beside his precious youngling, and Auri felt the medical scans as they went through and through her form carefully. "Oh… Auri…" he murmured. He trailed off, but Auri picked up his thoughts as clearly as if he was speaking. '_How could I have left you out of my sight? What was I processing? Now you're hurt because I was careless. I have failed you… so sorry…'_

Auri wanted to cry as she perceived her guardian's thoughts. She wanted to yell, too. She wanted to yell, "You've not failed me in the least! You do everything in your power to look after me! You only wanted to make me happy, and you trusted me! –I was the one who made the mistake! Not you! I should have heeded the twins and Bee! My fault!" But she was helpless.

Waves of his distress kept washing over her. She wanted to tell him that it was okay. But, between her restoration system and her emergency programming, the energy drain was too great; primary functions were allowed, but talking, apparently, was not one of them.

Ironhide was too upset for her to handle; she wished he'd calm down. He was standing still and probably looked calm, but everything inside him was raging and running back and forth. It was hard to handle.

Ratchet came over, close, right beside Ironhide. "She will be alright," the medic's voice said softly. "You know I've taken care of worse. She'll be as good as new when she scampers out of here."

His words and tone were reassuring, but Auri sensed his upset over her damages. And she found that he felt particular concern for her because she'd been neglected. She experienced aggravation over this. Did he still persist to think that she'd neglected. Well, she hadn't been. She remembered the disturbing conversation she'd had with Ratchet that day that he'd watched over her in Ironhide's absence. He'd been dead certain that she'd been neglected. She knew she hadn't been, though. Silly medic. She loved him anyway. But he was about to drive her mad; his emotions were almost as strong as Ironhide's, too strong, and she wished there was some way she could tell the emergency system to calm down and turn off.

Chromia burst into Med-Bay, and with her, a whole new flood of feelings to deal with. Chromia was upset, but mostly just relieved that Auri was back. She loved Auri dearly, treasured her and held her close.

Auri liked this very much. She felt Chromia gently touch her cheek. Sometimes Chromia was a little frustrated or disappointed that Auri didn't want or need her as much as she did Ironhide. Auri was surprised at this revelation. She'd never realized that. Quickly she decided that she was going to reach for Chromia and go to her more often.

Flareup was furious with a burning rage. It was a hotter rage than even Ironhide's when Ironhide came down the mountain to kill Soundwave. She was burning with rage, but she was crying in pain. The Decepticons should all be killed. And not slowly, but painfully, so that they would suffer in excruciating misery for all that they'd done. They had to suffer for touching Auri, for killing Flareup's family, for wronging and hurting her personally, for making Bee go through torture, for all that they'd done. Die! It was like Flareup was screaming.

There was almost too much hurt for Auri to handle. She really wanted it to stop.

Auri had lain without moving for the longest time. Even when the monitor indicated that she was out of recharge, she had stayed still. It had caused Ratchet some concern, particularly when she didn't online her optics, but some scans had reassured him. Her body needed to be still, and its system knew that, so she knew it, too, and kept still.

She whimpered presently, a soft whimper of pain, and twisted a little bit.

"Easy, easy," the medic put a gentle hand on her. She needed to stay still. Her sound and motion indicated pain, but there shouldn't have been any pain. He'd made sure she wouldn't feel anything when she woke up... but here she was squirming in discomfort. A perplexed look darkened the medic's face.

Flareup put aside her bitterness, and, with Chromia, turned concerned optics towards Auri.

"I'm not sure about this…" Ratchet said, running a diagnostic on the monitor. "She shouldn't be feeling any pain."

The machine checked out fine. Ratchet sorted facts in his head then went over to his scan computer and pulled up another window on it. "Mental pain." He said. "Thoughts and memories that hurt…" he added. "And… emotional … um, not _trauma_ exactly, but unhappy emotions."

Flareup grew incensed again. "_Soundwave_," she snarled, "Emotional assault? I am going get my hands on that spawn of a…"

"Flare!" Ratchet stopped her with a surprised look as Auri twisted again, almost writhing. "Flareup, stop. I need you to calm down."

She looked back at him.

"I mean it." He said, a discoverer's light in his optics, "Calm down inside, not just outside, refocus. Remember an awesome time you had one time. Think about something pleasant."

His requests were perplexing, but Flareup trusted Ratchet and complied. She gusted cooler air through her systems and focused on a day last week when she and Auri had had a girls' day out. They'd played on the beach and traded opinions on mechs and various armor styles. She laughed so hard that Auri thought she was going to break a spring or something.

Ratchet's optics seemed riveted to the window on his computer. "Chromia,"

"Yeah, Ratch?"

"Positive thoughts, too, please. And peaceful ones. Ironhide… focus on love and happiness, good times, too."

"At a time like this?" Ironhide was incredulous.

Ratchet waved a hand. "Okay, okay. Nevermind, Ironhide. I've got it."

"Well? Share." Ironhide ordered.

"She is picking up everybody's feelings. Everybody was upset and hurting; that was hurting her. When the most upset Bots calmed down or refocused, the mental pain was diminished."

Flareup frowned. "She said she wasn't a telepath." She said.

"It's not telepathy." Ratchet explained. "It's a highly complex system that allows her some sort of access to feelings of those around her. I need to figure out where exactly it is located so I can figure out more about it…" he trailed off as he turned back to his computer.

"If we move farther away, will she not … feel… us?" Flareup asked.

Ratchet nodded absently. "It is probable."

"Okay. I'm gonna go and tear up the practice field. Intercom me if there's some problem from that." She said then left, managing to not slam the door.

"I need to go." Ironhide said. It hurt to leave Auri, but he knew what feelings were running though him, and he didn't want to inflict that on her.

Ratchet met his optics and nodded that he understood. Ironhide kissed Chromia's head softly and went out.

Chromia sighed. "I don't want to leave…" she said softly, "But if my being upset is going to hurt Auri, I don't want to stay…"

"So don't be upset." Ratchet said. "It's a choice, you know."

Chromia was still for a while, thinking. Then she went over and sat on Auri's berth. She gently rubbed Auri's shoulder and thought on all her love for the little femme.

Auri had little energy to spare, but it only took a very little to bring a tiny smile to her mouth.

'I wish I could tell you how much I love you, Chromia.' She thought.

"She smiled…" Chromia said softly.

Ratchet turned from his computer to smile at Chromia as well. "Looks like you had what she needed." He said gently, knowing the struggles that she'd had over Auri's lack of need for her.

These words warmed the femme's very spark. They were sweet, and she smiled as she looked back down at her precious Auri. She was sorry that it had to be this way, but she was glad that she was needed.

OooOOoOoOOooO

Auri figuratively cuddled in Chromia's gentle love. Ratchet had figured out the problem and the solution, and now everything was much, much better. And Chromia knew just what was necessary for her, too.

With the younger medics calming down, and Ratchet in his groove with repair-work, and the three damaged mechs in recharge, everything was calm and quiet on the mental level. Auri found herself beginning to relax and calm down through and through. She lay still and drank in what was going on.

Ratchet was content enough for a long time, and then he was startled, greatly startled. "Prowl! Are you alright?"

"I? I am fine." Prowl's voice said. He thought Ratchet's excitability was most illogical.

"I... I don't owe you any reports, do I?" Ratchet dreaded that he might have forgotten something important.

"No. No, Ratchet." Prowl's voice was calm, but he was amused and rather pleased that Ratchet would be so disconcerted at his appearance. "I merely came to find some answers as to why Ironhide's group came back three hours early and did not say anything about coming back." It was irksome that important information was not always passed on him and he had to go looking for it. But, logically, he should not expect the Bots to change; they made him hunt down information seventy-three percent of the time on average, with certain bots having a high average, and other having a lower average.

"And you came here…?" Ratchet was uncertain about this…

"Chromia is here, is she not? Ironhide would not answer my hails on the intercom, so I came to question her." Prowl replied with his usual air of imperturbability. It was perfectly logical. Problem with Ironhide - ask Chromia. Of course, the opposite was not always true. Problem with Chromia - observe Ironhide from a distance and gauge mood carefully before approaching.

"Yes…" Ratchet wasn't sure how to say this. "Ah, Chromia is here. But I can explain."

Prowl was a little surprised, but open to getting answers from wherever he could.

"The twins, Bee, and Auri were doing a little racing," Ratchet said. His voice was calm and measured, but Auri could feel his apprehension. "As I understand it,"

"Get to the point, Ratchet." Prowl disliked long explanations when he wanted plain facts.

"Auri got hurt."

Auri got caught by another wave. It was an unspoken cry of distress from Prowl. 'No! No! Not Aurion! NO!' He was frightened that he might lose another friend, devastated that it would be Auri. Then Logic washed over and smoothed everything out. Nothing he might do could change the past; crying out would not change it. The future would hold what it would, and crying out would change none of it, either. He truly regretted that she had been hurt. He didn't want her to be hurt. But he could do nothing about it. There was a calm order in logic.

"How badly?" Prowl asked. Logic battled fear. Fear was stronger than logic though.

Ratchet lowered his voice, and Auri couldn't hear what he said. But she felt the shock that ran through Prowl's emotion core. It was like the jolt that ran through the ground in an earthquake, shuddering and unsteady, disturbing.

"She'll be just fine, Prowl." Ratchet assured him. "It sounds bad, it looks bad, but she'll be fine."

Logic calmed Prowl down again. Ratchet was reliable and trustworthy. And he didn't lie about his patients. Auri would be fine.

Prowl wanted to see her. There was no logical reason to see her, though. Ratchet said she was in stable condition, and that she would be fine. Sometimes logic got in the way. He hated it at times, but it gave him peace. He liked peace. Ratchet said Auri would be fine so Auri would be fine and seeing her would not change that. He thanked Ratchet and turned to leave. His spark tugged like a little youngling wanting to go see something. Logic was the cold adult that said it wasn't needed. His spark was sad.

Silly Prowl! Auri was slightly frustrated with him. Silly Prowl always had to follow logic instead of his spark.

"Prr…w…" Auri found that she still couldn't speak. It was exasperating.

Chromia was paying attention, though. "Prowl," she called gently.

Prowl paused and looked over towards her. "Yes?" he answered.

"Get over here." Chromia thought he was silly, too, for always following logic.

Auri had long suspected that Prowl was slightly fearful of Chromia, and now, as he approached, her suspicions were confirmed. It was completely logical fear, though. Any femme who was spark-bonded with a mech like Ironhide had to be formidable, if not a little crazy. And she possessed an appalling amount of indefatigability; she never stopped.

"Closer," Chromia told him.

He was very close now. And Chromia smacked him lightly upside the head. "Put aside logic, you dolt. Do what feels right."

Prowl's feelings towards Chromia were reproach for hitting him and a sense that she was correct at this moment. What ire arose at get hit was smoothed down by logic. Chromia is provoked - Chromia hits - course of action: use caution and comply with Chromia if possible.

Prowl cared for Auri as a brother did; Auri found that out when he went to the other side of her berth from Chromia and came close. He touched her shoulder with a finger. He wanted her to be alright. The finger was gentle and cautious. He never wanted her hurt. When she didn't respond, he was a little saddened, and he put his whole hand on her shoulder and rubbed it a little. He valued her.

This brought the faint smile back to Auri's mouth. Chromia saw it and was pleased. Prowl was warmed a little bit: even in this condition she would smile at him.

"Good, Prowl." Chromia murmured gently.

Auri could feel her emergency system starting to fade away. Prowl's cool logic and the continued calm of Med-Bay had triggered its shut-down sequence. That was nice. She really didn't like being all-knowing. It was too much.

She could feel the peace between Prowl and Chromia, and the sense that everything would be fine. She smiled the tiny smile again as she felt herself slipping into recharge.

OooOOoOoOOooO

When Auri awoke, she felt a little stronger, and she knew that her emergency system was offline, gone until she might need it again. She opened her optics and looked around a little.

Chromia was the first thing she saw. The femme guardian was on a berth next to hers in recharge. Auri watched her, looking over the graceful blue form. It was strange to see her asleep without Ironhide beside her, and she looked rather alone.

Ratchet came over, and Auri pulled a little smile on seeing him.

"Finally out of recharge, are you?" he commented.

Auri managed a tiny nod. She felt too tired to speak.

He ran his handheld scanner over her, wanting to check her now that she was awake. "You took quite a tumble, Sweet-Spark." He told her, keeping his voice soft so as to not bother Chromia.

"Really?" Auri whispered, "Didn't know …I wasn't there…" she felt quite feeble after talking so much, but the amused grimace on Ratchet's was worth it.

"You keep quiet now." He whispered, trying to look stern but failing. "I'll have your Energon for you in a few minutes."

He left and, good to his word, he was back in just three minutes with a small cube of Energon. Setting it aside, he adjusted her berth so she could sit up a little bit. "Good?" he asked. She nodded. "Sip it slowly." He told her, handing her the cube.

She did as she was told, but she slipped into recharge before the cube was half empty.

Time seemed to pass quite slowly in Med-Bay for Ratchet. Everybody was in recharge, and he'd finished his reports on their injuries a while ago. He wanted them awake so he could talk with them and do other check-ups on them. He knew he'd just have to be patient, though, and wait. Waiting seemed to be most of what he had to do.

He went back to his computer to see about Auri's emergency system, but it had gone offline, and there was no way of tracing it now. Oh, well. The medic shrugged, accepting the fact, and went to see if he could tell if Soundwave had done anything to her.

Bringing up his scans of her from regular check-ups, he compared them with the ones he had taken when she'd first been brought in after the accident. Then he compared both with the scans he'd just taken. There were some differences between all three.

He frowned and began separating out the physical damages from the fall and isolating them. There were still differences after he'd done that. He then sought to figure out what was emotional trauma from falling and what was residual fear from the Seekers' attack. Too, there was the semi-telepathic emergency system that had dumped a whole lot into her processors. It was nearly impossible to sort out at first, but once he saw the pattern, it became easier.

He hesitated, considering what to do next. He needed to compare more things. What could he compare…?

He pulled up all his files relating to Bots who had been attacked by Soundwave, whether physically or mentally and/or emotionally. He had only a few. Then he pulled up other files on Soundwave's victims that had been compiled by other medics over the ages. There were a whole lot.

Taking a cube of Energon, the medic sat back and started to study the power Decepticon communications officer. After the first few sips of Energon, though, he had no thought of Energon; Soundwave was a disturbing Transformer.

Ratchet set the cube aside and picked up another file with a slight shudder of apprehension. So much power, so little mercy… Soundwave seemed to live by no rules other than ones that pleased him.

Ratchet thought back on what he knew about the incident.

Soundwave hadn't hurt Bee. He'd simply put him into recharge and left him there on the ground, out of the way. Ratchet had talked to Bee during one of the times he'd been awake, but Bee hadn't been able to give any answers as to what Soundwave had done with Auri.

The twins had been slightly more helpful. While fighting the Seekers, Sunny had glanced over and seen Soundwave crouch beside Auri. Sides had seen Soundwave pick her up. After that the next thing they knew about was Ironhide coming down the mountainside firing his cannons. Then Seekers had left quickly when they saw Ironhide.

Ironhide had told Ratchet about his dealings with Soundwave. How Soundwave had just been holding Auri, and how Soundwave had hesitated before setting her down and then cunningly distracted him so he, Soundwave, could get away with his life.

Some of the first-aid bandages had Decepticon signature all over them; these Soundwave had put on. Ratchet mused on this and recalled the evening that the femme-ling had arrived on earth.

"_Trade Starscream for femme."_ Soundwave had said._ "Starscream: more valuable to you. I: become second in command."_

Of course they had rejected his offer. Then he'd asked Auri personally and tried to coax her to go with him. "_Come,_" he'd said, "_I give protection, love, Energon, training; you request, I grant."_

Auri had rejected this, and he'd accepted defeat, leaving soon after. "_Tend her well_" had been his parting words.

Ratchet realized that he'd rather forgotten about that first night, but now as he looked back on, he saw that Soundwave had wanted Auri quite a bit. _Tend her well_. Look after her until I can get her.

Apparently he still wanted her.

Chromia came over, looking still half in recharge. "Hey…" she greeted drowsily.

"Hi." Ratchet said, looking up from his work.

"Whatchya thinking?" she asked sitting on the desk.

"I was thinking back about Soundwave." He said.

Chromia shuddered. "Creep." She said.

Ratchet pursed his lips. "Why would he want Auri?" he asked after a few moments.

"He seems to like collecting smaller Transformers for his use. Auri's not too much bigger than most of his 'pets.'"

Ratchet scowled at the thought of Auri being slave to Soundwave's every whim.

"And she _is_ a she." Chromia added darkly. "One small 'Former, plus one small 'Former, equals three small 'Formers. A hobby and more pets." She growled with distaste.

Ratchet's face bore a look of loathing and shock.

Chromia motioned to the stack of files. "It's not like he has any morals."

Ratchet nodded. Chromia's idea seemed very plausible. From what he'd read about Soundwave, the Con did take much interest in having and controlling small Cons.

"Well," said the medic, "Whatever plans or designs he has for her, we must not let them come to fruition. Since he's tried these two times to get her, I'm guessing he will still want to try again. We must never give him opportunity. She must never leave Base."

"That may sound a bit drastic to some people, but I want her safe." Chromia said, "She's not going to go off base unless there's an extremely good reason for it. And Ironhide will back me on it."

Ratchet nodded.

"O… 'Mia…?" Auri's voice asked.

"Finally out of recharge?" Chromia asked, going back to her little charge.

"I want…" Auri started to say, and Chromia knew she wanted Ironhide. "I want hug." She opened her arms a little.

Chromia was perplexed for a moment, but she didn't hesitate to hug her little Auri. She held the little femme gently to her chest.

"I want a closer bond with you, too." Auri said softly.

"Auri," Chromia was surprised.

Auri let her go and looked into her optics. "When I get badly hurt," she said, "A system in me comes on and gives me insight into the feelings of others. I found that you are sad that I want Ironhide more than I do you. I want to change that."

Chromia hugged her again. "Oh, Auri… bright-spark…" she couldn't find words to say. "You're so sweet.' She whispered.

Auri cuddled with her femme guardian for a long time before she slipped into recharge again. Chromia still held her.

After a while Ratchet came over. "We need to ask her about Soundwave when she wakes." He said quietly.

Chromia nodded calmly. She was anxious inside though.

When Auri woke up again, she found Chromia gazing down at her thoughtfully.

"I'll get better quickly." Auri told her encouragingly. "Ratchet says younglings are delightfully resilient."

Chromia smiled at her, but the smile did quite reach all the way.

"Ratchet?" Auri called, apprehensive, now.

"You're going to be fine." Ratchet said, coming over and sitting on the berth across from Chromia and Auri. "We just need to ask you about Soundwave."

Auri looked questioningly up at Chromia before looking back to Ratchet. "What about him?" she asked.

"He picked you up." Ratchet said. Auri nodded. Ratchet went on. "Did he do anything else to you?"

"He tried to make me calm down by putting peaceful and comforting thoughts to my head." Auri said. "And he patched some of the gashes on my side and leg. He told me he wouldn't hurt me. He looked in my head though." She added with a scowl. "He looked into my feelings…" she said resentfully. Then she paused, searching her memory. "Just basic feelings about my closest friends and family, though. That's all. He put me down when Ironhide came."

Ratchet nodded. Then he asked, "With this emergency system of yours, could you tell what was going on in Soundwave's mind? His intentions, or anything?"

Auri considered this and shook her head. "He blocked it. He even hid himself from the system for a short time."

"Is there anything else you can think of, or want to say?" Ratchet asked gently.

Auri shook her head. It whole mountain experience terrifying, and she didn't want to recall it. She wanted to be safe and secure again.

"Are you sure, my Auri?" Chromia asked softly.

Auri shook her head again.

Chromia cuddled her gently. "It will be alright…" she reassured in a soft voice. "We will keep you on base for a long, _long_ time and Soundwave won't get you here."

"Th-the falling and th-the S-Seekers were the scariest." Auri whimpered. "I th-thought I'd n-never stop falling."

Chromia nodded as she kept her arms around her little one. "And you wanted nothing more than to stop falling." She said softly.

"Uh-huh. And th-the S-seekers… I c-could tell what th-they were th-thinking. They w-were s-scarier."

Chromia was glad that the little femme could no longer feel her emotions. She kept the fury out of her voice, and replied with a gentle murmur. "I'm sure they were…"

"I'm never leaving base again."

"We'll never make you leave." Chromia promised her.

"M'kay." This reassured her and made things much better.

"Did Soundwave scare you?" Ratchet asked gently.

Auri nodded. "At f-first he did." She said. "But when he picked me and held me so gently, I realized that he wasn't g-going to treat me like the S-seekers would've."

"Could you tell what he was thinking?" Ratchet asked.

"You already asked that." Auri pointed out. Then she looked perplexed and frightened, "Didn't you?" she asked.

"Sh-sh, yes, I did ask that already." Ratchet replied, rubbing her shoulder, "It's alright, it's alright. I'm sorry I frightened you by asking again. I just want to be sure that he didn't hurt your mind or twist your programming, or anything like that."

Auri shook her head. "I don't think he did anything like that." She said. "He was gentle to me. And he knew how to patch little parts quite well."

"He has lots of little Transformers." Ratchet explained, "A collection of sorts."

Auri raised her optics ridges in shock. A collection! Then she scowled. "I'm not a collector's item!" she growled. "Of all the nerve." She muttered.

::Well, now she's mad instead of scared.:: Ratchet sent over the intercom to Chromia. ::I'd say that's a good thing.::

Chromia met his optics and nodded as her dry smile came back partway. ::She's a spunky little thing, that's for sure.::

"Well," The medic said Auri. "You don't have to worry about it anymore, but if you want to talk about what happened, I will always be here to listen to you. Y'hear?"

Auri nodded. "Thank-you, my-Ratchet." She leaned out of Chromia's arms for him to take her.

Ratchet took her and cuddled her. "Alright," he said after a minute. "Down for a nap now, sweet-spark. You need a lot of rest so your body can repair."

"Yes, sir." She murmured. Chromia got off her berth, and Ratchet settled her down then put a light blanket over her.

"There you go." He said then kissed her little hand. "Pleasant recharge."

"'Kay..." Auri was quite ready for this nap.

Chromia leaned over and gave her another hug and a soft kiss on the head. "Sleep well." She whispered to her femme-ling.

A little smile touched Auri's face, and it stayed there as she slipped into recharge.

* * *

Yay! Much better now! :) And it was a fairly long chapter, too. X) Okay, I've got to get on to my homework now. Good luck with yours, you who have it. ;) I hope to post next chapter next Monday, if all works out. :) See yous later! XD Have a good week!


	47. Chapter 47, Words and Entertainment

Here's your chapter! :) And I have to give a speech in class tomorrow. Eek! O_O I get to take my toy Ironhide, though. It's a "three things about me" kind of speech. :D

* * *

Chapter 47

**Words and Entertainment**

"Is your chronometer temporarily glitched, or are you completely incapable of arriving anywhere at a designated time?" Prowl's tone was cool and calm as usual, but his words stung cruelly.

Ultra Magnus's optics widened as the sharp words cut to his spark. He'd been aware that Prowl had been out of sorts lately, but he felt stunned, as if he had been slapped in the face. He didn't usually let words get to him, but these ones from Prowl were hurtful. He had been late only a few times in the past year; Prowl had no reason to lash out at him like this, but Prowl had.

Prowl saw how the larger mech flinched. And Prowl knew that he shouldn't have said what he did. He'd known that as soon as the words had left his mouth, but it was even clearer now. He had hurt Magnus with his words.

Prowl ducked his head in shame. "Magnus…" he said, "Magnus, I am sorry. I never, never should have said that."

Ultra Magnus hesitated, uncertain as to what he should say.

"I was completely wrong to speak thus." Prowl added humbly before the pause grew too long. "Please accept my apology."

Ultra Magnus nodded. "Accepted." He said in a quiet voice. He paused then spoke again in the same tone. "I have the report you requested."

"Thank-you." Prowl wished he'd snapped at Ironhide instead at Magnus. He took the data-pads that Magnus handed to him, and motioned for the taller mech to have a seat while he went over them.

Prowl ducked his head over the data-pad, but he wasn't entirely focused on it; he was thinking about Ironhide. Ironhide would have belted him upside the head, defended himself, and then demanded to know what was wrong with him.

And he knew something was wrong with him.

Ultra Magnus wasn't the first Bot he'd been ugly-mouthed with that day. Tracks had been on the receiving end of his words earlier. Tracks had blinked at Prowl in amazement and then left quickly to do as bidden. Brawl, too, had gotten an audio-processer-full. Prowl had slammed him with words, and the pugnacious Bot had narrowed his optics and measured Prowl before deciding that he would do best to do what Prowl demanded. And Elita-One… he wasn't going to revisit that scene.

Ultra Magnus shifted uncomfortably. He saw that Prowl's optics were not focused on his data-pad but focused on the desk instead. He knew, and everybody knew, that Prowl's temper had been on a short fuse for the past three days, and he didn't want any more of what Prowl had given him on his entrance.

"Is there another problem?" He asked quietly.

Prowl nodded. "Yes." He said without hesitation.

Ultra Magnus braced himself.

"I am the problem." Prowl said. "I need to…" he paused, figuring things out. "I need to get off everybody's bumpers." He decided.

Ultra Magnus nodded slowly but said nothing.

Prowl pursed his lips for a second, and then he began reading the report. He read it through and made several notions to the side before handing it back to Ultra Magnus. "Very good." He said. "It only needs a few additions. Can you bring it back to me in three hours?" He said three even though he would have preferred two.

"I can bring it back in two." Magnus replied.

"Thank-you." Prowl said. "That will be all."

"Good day." Ultra Magnus rose and headed to the door.

"Mags," Prowl's use of his old nickname halted him.

He turned to look back. "Yes?"

"I really am sorry that I spoke that way. You are actually one of the most prompt Bots I know."

Ultra Magnus could not help but smile at Prowl. "Thank-you. And you are quite forgiven, Prowlcar." He said. Then he left.

Prowl worked for several more hours in the lonesome silence of his office. Then he went out on patrol and everybody got out of his sight when they saw him coming.

'I have been being a monster, haven't I?" he realized. And he had to admit that the stress had made him badly irritable. His logic center hadn't been able to override the stress, so high had the stress been.

He went to Prime as soon as he finished his patrol.

Elita gave him an icy look when he entered Prime's office.

"Commander." He greeted her with a nod.

"Commander Growl." She greeted in return with a cool tone.

His wings twitched. He ducked his head then met her optics. "Elita, I must apologize. Your shot was very bad, but I should not have responded as I did out on the field. I am sorry."

Elita tried to gaze back at him calmly, but the warm flicker returned to her optics, and she relented and gave him a smile. "Apology accepted, Prowl." She said, "It's alright. We all have our bad days."

"-More often than we like." Optimus added from his chair behind his desk. He had an understanding look on his face as he rubbed the back of his head.

"You keep quiet, mech." Elita ordered, narrowing her optics.

Optimus looked lovingly at her. "Is there no trust in your spark?" he asked softly.

Elita melted and went to him. Leaning over, she whispered something to him that made him smile. "I will see you later." She said as she straightened.

"I look forward to that." He said sincerely. He caressed her leg, keeping his hand low enough behind his desk that it was not visible to Prowl. "Be careful out there." He told her fondly as she left and headed to the door.

"It's just battle-_practice_, not actual battle." She replied, "It won't be dangerous until we meet again." She added, shaking her shoulders in a motion that drew attention to her figure.

Prowl's optic-ridges shot up. _She was flirting with Prime in his presence? Astonishing! Disturbing!_

The door clicked shut behind the femme, and Prime chuckled softly.

"Can I do something for you, Prowl?" Optimus asked.

"Yes." Prowl said. "Please let me take a break for an hour today."

It was Optimus Prime's turn to be astonished. "What?"

Prowl sighed. "I have been stressed to the extent that it has affected my behavior. I need a short break, just one hour. May I take it?"

Optimus nodded quickly. "Yes, take an hour, Prowl. No, take two hours."

"Thank-you." Prowl said. Then he left.

He hit the racetrack, and floored it, accelerating as fast as he could. His engine roared and the wind whipped around his car sides. He never slowed for the turns, and his tires left dark marks on the curves. He drove hard and long.

When he reached the end of his race, he was hot and spent. But he felt so much calmer. And he had beaten his sixth fastest record.

He drove slowly away, letting his system cool down. It had been good to get out go fast.

He sighed a calm sigh and headed back to the main part of base. He still had an hour and twenty minutes left on his hands.

Going back to work was an option, but it might get him in trouble with Prime. He paused in front of his office. He was cool and calm again, Commander Prowl, SiC, to the core now, able to handle anything. He was ready to go back to work. He didn't have thing else to do on base, really, besides his work.

Well, if Auri had been out of Med-Bay he could have devoted the time to her amusement. It was occasionally uncomfortable following her sparkling-like whims, but at the same time he found enjoyment in the sparkling-like-ness and the easy pace that she set.

He hadn't seen her since the day of her accident. He had stopped by Med-Bay the day after to see her again, but she'd been in recharge. And he'd stopped by yesterday, as well, but she'd been in recharge then, too.

Perhaps it was his timing. Perhaps if he went now she would be awake.

And he did have an hour and fifteen minutes.

OoOOoOoOOoO

Ratchet was trying to get a report done in his office. He found this virtually impossible due to the continuous noise that erupted from time to time in the main room.

"NOT FAIRRRRR!" He heard Sunny yell. It was perhaps the eighth or ninth time he'd heard the phrase from that bot this morning.

"TOTALLY FAIR!" Sides yelled back argumentatively.

"TWINS!" Ratchet barked.

Total silence enveloped Med-Bay as three pairs of blue optics riveted on the medic. Ratchet went over to the twins.

"If I hear one more yell from either you, I will take those video games away." He warned in a dangerously quiet tone. "Is that understood?"

The twins nodded in unison. "Yes, sir." Sunny said meekly, "Yes, sir." Sides said meekly.

"Good." Ratchet said. He gave them another stern look and then went back to his office.

The twins broke out into a furious whispered argument as soon as he was gone. They hissed back and forth at each other with glares on their faces and motioned with fists.

"Awwwww…!" Bee groaned and put his head down on his video game. Now that the twins were squabbling, they wouldn't stop until someone made them, and he'd have nobody to finish the game with until then.

The little yellow bot put his head up again and looked over at the other door-winger in Med-Bay. He sighed. She was still napping.

They had been in Med-Bay for three whole days now, and Auri had spent much of the first two in recharge. She was starting to come out of that stage now though. She was awake a little more often.

*_Thwack!_*

"Ow!" Sides snarled.

*_Scrick!_*

"OWWWWSIDESWIPEYOU_SCRATCHED__MY__**PAINT**_!" Sunny screeched.

Auri jerked her head up with a scowl. "**HEY**!" she yelled. "WHY CAN'T I RECHARGE FOR TWENTY MINUTES WITHOUT BEING WAKE-UPPED BY YOU TWO -WORTHLESS -SPAWNS -OF…" she scanned her memory, trying to think of something dreadful that she could say without using a word that would get her in trouble with Ironhide. She couldn't think of any.

And Ratchet was there. Dead silence enveloped the room again.

Ratchet went over and gave Auri a tiny swat on the behind. "I know that you are aggravated, Sweet-Spark, but that kind of talk in not allowed." he told her firmly.

She made a pout face and rubbed her behind, but her dramatics went unnoticed by the seasoned medic. He knew he hadn't hurt her that much.

He sternly took the video-games away from the twins. "I warned you." He told them.

He looked over the patients. Bee was well-behaved. "Can I go finished my reports?" Ratchet asked with a threatening looked.

Meek silence.

"Good." Ratchet said. He went back to his reports. The young bots heard his door shut hard.

"I woke up crabby." Auri murmured unhappily as she put her head back down.

"Sorry we bothered you," Sunny apologized. "We didn't mean to."

Auri put her head up again. "It's alright." She told them with a little smile. "I know how you two are."

"We'll be quiet so you can sleep." Sides promised earnestly.

"Thank-you." She smiled at him forgivingly. Then she went back into recharge.

Bee looked at his video game handset and put it aside. It wasn't any good with no one to play with. He propped his chin on his hands. As a door-winger, he was more comfortable on his front than on his back. The same went for Auri. The downside was that you were more likely to get a disciplinary smack on the backside when you misbehaved than a bot who was lying on his back was.

Oh, well. Bee still loved having door-wings. He shifted his up and down a little, glad that Ratchet had been able to repair them completely after the Seekers' attack. The blue Seeker, Thundercracker, had grabbed his left door-wing and wrenched it half-off, taunting, "That what you call a wing? You can't even fly! HARHARHAR!" Cruel bullies, those Seekers.

Bee wandered off in thought, and the twins engaged in a silent stare contest.

Sunny narrowed his optics, and Sides raised an optic-ridge.

Sunny looked bored. Sides looked disgusted.

Sunny sneered. Sides looked cross-eyed.

Sunny smirked. Sides sneered. Prowl gave them an odd look.

Awkward.

"Oh, hi, Prowl." Sunny whispered.

"We're just having a silent stare contest." Sides whispered.

"Ah." Said Prowl in a regular voice.

"_SH!_" _"SH!"_

Prowl raised his optic-ridges. "What is going on?" he asked in a whisper.

"We kinda made Ratchet mad a while back." Sides explained, still whispering.

"Yeah… mad enough that he took our video games away." Sunny added.

"And so mad that he swatted Auri for yelling at us."

Prowl gave them a dark look.

"It was just a little smack..." Sides realized that he probably shouldn't have added the part about Auri getting swatted. Rumor had it that Prowl had been as cross as a Decepticon the last few days.

"This point is," Sunny whispered, "He's really in a mad mood, and we're trying to not make much noise. We'd really like him to calm down, so we can ask him if we can watch a movie."

"Why are you all whispering?" Auri asked in a loud whisper. "Prowl!" she squealed with delight, completely forgetting to whisper. The other three inmates of Med-Bay were impressed by this reception.

"Good afternoon, Aurion." Prowl greeted in a soft voice. "They are attempting to not incur Ratchet's further wrath."

"Oh… I understand." She said with a slightly rueful smile in a soft voice. "How are you?" she asked, "I've not seen you since before I got hurt."

"I am quite well." Prowl replied. "I came yesterday and the day before to see you, but my timing was bad; you were in recharge both times."

The twins were astonished at Prowl's smooth words, but Auri beamed at him. "That was nice of you!"

Prowl accept this praise with a gracious tip of his head. "How are you recovering?"

"Slowly." Auri said with a long-suffering tone.

Prowl nodded. "I understand that. Each hour often seems twice as long in Med-Bay."

"Especially with little or nothing to do. The twins and Bee have their video games, but they aren't interesting to me. Chromia brought my data-pads for me, but I get tired from holding my head up to look at them."

Prowl nodded understandingly.

"I did try leaving my head down and holding the data-pad up with my arm, but my arm got tired from that a little too quickly." she gave a little sigh and then went on. "My back and wings are still too sore for me to stay on my back for very long. Otherwise I would be playing with my data-pads."

"Of course."

"And we've been coaxing Ratchet for two days now to let us watch a movie, but he refuses because he doesn't like the noise."

"Well, _that_ is understandable."

"But, Prowl! We're dying of boredom here. And the twins make more noise in a fight with each other than a whole movie would make. Sunny get mad at Sides, or vice-versa, and they start hollering at each other, and then hitting and howling, and they're worse than sparklings once they get started."

"Have you heard sparklings howling?" Prowl asked.

"Well… no..."

"Do not compare them, then. It is not fair to sparklings to compare them with the twins."

"Yes, sir." Auri replied respectfully. Then there was a pause as she realized that he had been jesting.

Prowl tilted a wing in gratification as Auri started giggling.

The twins were really gaping at the Second-in-Command now. He'd encouraged conversation with Auri, and that he had made a joke. True, it had been at their expense, but he had _made a JOKE_! It was all VERY remarkable.

Auri kept giggling and started to laugh very hard.

"It… was not that funny…" Prowl said uncertainly. Was she alright?

"No," She gasped between giggles, "But-" she broke off and started to laugh some more.

Ratchet came in and went to Auri. "You alright, Sweet-Spark?" he asked, rubbing her back just above her wing-connectors with one hand as he swept a scan over her with his other.

"I'm fine…" she rubbed her optics. "Prowl made me laugh." She explained. "But I hadn't laughed for so long that I got hysterical."

"I see." Ratchet said, skimming the scan readout with practiced optics. She was fine indeed. And the release of tension that came with laughter had been good for her and her system. "Nice work, Commander." He said to Prowl.

Prowl tipped his head in begrudging acknowledgement.

"So, did you come in for your check up?" Ratchet asked as he rubbed Auri's back some back. He knew that Prowl hadn't.

"Indeed not." Prowl replied calmly. He knew Ratchet was trying to provoke him. "I understand your patients are desirous of watching a movie; do you need help with setting up the projector?" He knew it wasn't like his usual self to say this, but he was missing the bit of fun that Auri invariably brought to his office, and it was quite fun to provoke Ratchet to a certain degree. He'd first found that out when he bit Ratchet on the finger as a sparkling.

"They are not watching a movie." Ratchet said staunchly. "This is a medical facility, not a theater."

"Obviously." Prowl said, looking around, "But I am certain they find it as entertaining as a morgue."

Ratchet leaned in close, getting in Prowl's face. "Prowl?"

"Yes?"

Ratchet straightened, completely baffled. Since when did Prowl give a broken wrench if his patients were amused or not?

"I think you do need a check-up."

Prowl shook his head. "My check up is not due for another twelve days."

"Say…" Sunny said in a chipper tone, "Ratchet, since Prowl wants us to get to watch a movie, why don't you let us watch a movie if he will submit to getting his check up done now?"

Had Prowl not been Second-in-Command, he would have run over and punched Sunny forcibly and told him to mind his own business.

"This is not a bargaining thing." Prowl retorted sharply with a fierce flick of his wings.

"That is not a bad idea." Ratchet said.

"No!" Prowl didn't agree. Perhaps he shouldn't have started this…

"Prowl," Auri said coaxingly, "You have to have your check-up anyway. Now is as good as a time as any, and you won't have to come back in twelve days."

"That's logical isn't it?" Sides asked.

"A little." Prowl said reluctantly. "Well… alright."

The twins cheered and Bee gave him a thumbs-up while Auri smiled.

"If it's a trilogy, may we watch all three?" Auri asked.

"Yes." Prowl said vengefully and hid a smug smirk.

"Now wait a minute," Ratchet said,

"I will not." Prowl said. "I am submitting to this, _I_ get to decide the terms."

"You're evil." Ratchet said. "Help me set up the projector."

Prowl helped him with the projector.

"Which trilogy?" Ratchet asked suddenly.

"Lord of the Rings, extended version." Sunny said.

"Th-th-th…" Ratchet stuttered.

"Come, Ratchet, here is the projector." Prowl said mercilessly. This _was_ fun! More fun than he'd expected!

"The extended version trilogy…" Ratchet said faintly, "Is… is over eleven hours long, Prowl."

"Eleven?" Prowl hadn't known that.

Ratchet plugged the projector in. "Yes."

Prowl reconsidered for a moment. "Well," he tossed the extension-cord from the speakers over to the medic, "You will have eleven hours where that they will not be yelling and fighting. Plus, there will be intermissions while they nap."

Ratchet scowled at him while the wounded audience watched, grinned, and tried to not laugh out loud. They were thoroughly enjoying the bickering between the SiC and the CMO.

"This is the wrong cord, Prowl." Ratchet threw it back.

"This one, then?" Prowl asked holding up another one.

"No. The blue one. Hurry it up!"

"Hurry Autobots-es, hurry!" Sunny piped in a raspy tone.

"_What?_" Ratchet turned to glare at him.

"Nothing." Sunny said. Once Ratchet went back to harassing Prowl, though, Sunny whispered to Auri, "I twisted a quote from the movie."

"Ow!" Prowl yelped. "You hit me with that cord intentionally."

"I did not!" Ratchet retorted even though he had. "Now plug the stupid thing in so we can get on with it."

Prowl plugged the cord in.

"LoTR, here we are!" Sides cheered as the screen lit up.

"Yay." Ratchet said flatly.

"_**DAAAAAA**__**-!**_" The opening music blared from the speaker, which was right beside Ratchet

"_**PROWL!**_" Ratchet roared, covering his audio receptors.

Prowl hastily turned the volume down on the speakers. Perhaps he shouldn't have turned it up so loud to start with.

"Prowlcar of Cybertron. You. Are. In. For. IT!" Ratchet was furious.

"This was your bargain." Prowl said innocently. Then he yelped as Ratchet grabbed him by the door-wing.

"It's time for you to hold up your end of it now." Ratchet said ominously as he got a firm grasp on the shorter Bot's arm. "Come on to examining room."

"Hobbit!" Prowl said suddenly as the image on the screen reminded him which movie it was.

"_What?_"

"Aurion cannot watch this movie."

Ratchet didn't loosen his grip. "Explain." He ordered. "What's this about Hobbit? What _is_ Hobbit?"

"Hobbit...Ah…" Prowl faltered. "Well, nevermind Hobbit. The Ring Wraiths, the Trolls, that enormous spider, and the Snorks, are the concern."

"'_Snorks'?_" Sunny stared at Prowl while Sides snickered. Prowl meant 'Orcs' and didn't know it.

"What are you talking about, Prowl?" Ratchet snapped.

"There are nasty monster things in this movie." Prowl explained. "I doubt Ironhide would permit Auri to view it."

Ratchet released Prowl and moved to pause the movie. All optics turned to him.

"Did Ironhide clear this movie?" he asked.

"We didn't think about that…" the young mechs looked at Auri.

She shook her head. "Did he need to?" she asked, looking concerned.

"Yes." Prowl said. "Shall I intercom him for you?"

Auri nodded. She gave the twins a scowl while Prowl intercommed.

::Prowl to Ironhide.::

::Hide here. What's going, Prowl?:: the Weapons' Specialist asked amiably.

::I am in Med-Bay to visit Aurion. They are about to watch a movie, but you have not cleared it. It is _Lord of the Rings_.::

::Uh… Have I even heard of it? Is it that one with those boys on that island?::

::No, that was a _The Lord of the Flies_. This is T_he Lord of the Rings._ It gave Flareup the creeps for two days.:: Prowl winced as he recalled Flareup screaming in fright and crashing into him when she was surprised by one of the spider-like mountain-climber drones.

::Ah, no recollection. But Auri can't go watching any movie that gives Flareup the creeps.::

::Very well. Thank-you. Prowl out.::

"He says no." Prowl said.

"Twwwwwwwwins." Auri said.

"We didn't think the creepy parts were that creepy!" they protested.

"There is a vast difference between you two and Aurion." Ratchet pointed out. "What are you going to watch instead?" he asked with resignation.

"_IRONMAN_!" Auri yelled. "That one is allowed."

"YEAH!" the twins yelled, and Bee nodded enthusiastically.

"Okay." Ratchet switched the movie while Prowl stood by. Once he had _Ironman_ started, he turned around and tripped over Prowl. "You are a pain in the foot!" he snapped quietly as he steadied himself.

"Shall I leave then?" Prowl asked. Then he yelped as Ratchet grabbed him by the door-wing.

"No, Prowl." Ratchet said, getting a firm grasp on the shorter Bot's arm as he had before. "You're coming with me. It's time for you to hold up your end of the bargain now. You are getting your _complete_ check up."

"Hey! We can't hear the dialog over you two!" Sides complained.

"I do apologize," Prowl said courteously as Ratchet dragged him unceremoniously out of the main room towards the examining room.

"And you will explain what _Hobbit_ is." Ratchet growled.

"Oh. I… I…" Prowl looked abashed. "I do not know what Hobbit is." He said as he climbed onto the berth. "I just remember the word."

"You beat everything, you know that?" Ratchet commented.

"If I 'beat everything,' I would not be in here." Prowl retorted. "OUCH!"

"It's a saying, smart-bot! It means you are full of surprises!"

"Ow." Prowl muttered, refusing to be complemented. He tucked his face down in his arms and submitted to scans and pokes in silence. "Wait a minute." He said, putting his head up after a little bit.

"What?" Ratchet asked.

"How did you know precisely how long the trilogy was without knowing anything about it?"

"Oh, that." Ratchet said. "The twins watched it last time they were in here for over three days. I had to put up with the noise for eleven hours, and that's all I remembered about it."

"Ah…" That made sense. He put his head back down and smiled. Physical exam aside, the little escapade had been definitely fun and quite a success.

* * *

And that's it for this week, folks! I should being updating next Monday. Don't forget to review! X)

Also, you can check the drawing I did for MISCrasyaboutfanfics, done of Sideways, Peaches, and their family, on deviantART:

http:/ cairistona. deviantart. com/#/ d48w8s1


	48. Chapter 48, Visitor

AH! I have a monster of a sociology test tomorrow. Those who've had it before have given witness to its terribleness. It has 25 multiple choice questions and 5 essay questions, and you only have 50 minutes to do it! O_O

And thanks for all the great reviews on the last chapter. I loved them! (No time for answers right now, I have to study for the aforementioned test.) (Last week's speech went well, though, btw. :))

Anyways, here's some fun for you guys. :)

* * *

Chapter 48

**Visitor **

Prowl came into Med-Bay the next day and found the four patients off their berths and well occupied. His entrance went unnoticed, however, and he stood quietly and watched.

The three mechs, as well as Jolt, Junior Medical Officer, were in car mode, parked in a circle with their fore-bumpers facing inwards, and there was an empty space in the circle. Auri was also in car mode, but she was in motion, driving slowly around the outside of the circle.

She halted behinds Sunny. "Bot." she said then pulled forward to Bee. "Bot." She said again, then went forward again, stopping at Jolt. "Bot." Then she went to Sides. "Con!" she said, then squealed her tires as she hurried to get away before he could pull out of the circle.

"Hurry! Hurry!" Sunny cheered.

"Come on, Auri!" Jolt called.

"EEEEE…!" Auri squealed as Sides gained on her.

*_Bump_* He tagged her gently before she could pull into the circle. She sighed, and he parked, and she went back to circling the parked bots.

"Bot…" She said to Sunny.

"Con!" She bolted away from Bee. Bee gave a good chase, but he didn't catch her, and she pulled into the circle safely.

Bee was it.

"Bot." Bee said, then pulled forward. "Bot."

Prowl permitted a half-smile, and then he moved on quietly so as to not disturb the players. He found Ratchet in his office.

Ratchet looked up with a grin. "Didn't join the game of 'Bot, Bot, Con'?" he asked teasingly.

"No. Sparklings' games do not quite befit a Second-in-Command." Prowl replied, but he wasn't haughty. "I did watch a round though, and they seem to be enjoying it greatly."

"They enjoy anything that gets them off their berths." Ratchet said, stacking some files.

"I take it they are improving quite well –since you have let them up to play." Prowl asked.

"They haven't improved _that_ much." Ratchet said, "I was just SICK of listening to cartoons. I swear, if I'd had to hear the theme song of "Spider-Man, the Animated Series" again, OR the theme song to "Spectacular Spiderman," OR the theme song of "The Avengers: Earth's Mightiest Heroes" I would have completely lost all tolerance for ANY cartoon whatsoever! I mean, the 1990's music? '_Spiiiiiderman-Spiiiiiderman- Spiiiiiiderman…_' that is not proper lyrics for anything! Not even a theme song. As for Spectacular Spiderman, it's a little better, lacking the heavy synth background noise, but still…! '_Spectacular, spectacular, Spiderman! Spectacular, spec…_' really, the repetition is…" he trailed off as Prowl raised an optic-ridge and gave him an odd look.

"Nevermind." Ratchet said. "When I turned the cartoons off, the younglings just got too rambunctious that I thought it'd be better to let them strain themselves just a little with a sparklings' game, than to have them tear something while wrestling. And they are playing the game in car-mode, so they aren't moving around very much."

"So they will be fine until someone tags too hard and a fight breaks out."

"That's why Jolt is playing with them." Ratchet said with a little mischievous twinkle in his optics. "But don't tell them that."

"I will not." Prowl said, reaching out to straighten a data-pad.

Ratchet swatted his hand. "So, what are you doing here this time?" He asked.

Prowl gave his hand a rub before answering, "I am coming to get clearance for some guests to visit Med-Bay."

Ratchet had given orders that guests had to have permission before visiting. Having Ironhide constantly lurking around Med-Bay had given the medic the creeps. And he'd tripped over Mirage and several of the other mid-sized-car mechs too many times. Also, Flareup had made him uneasy with her hair-trigger temper, and protective Chromia had him paranoid.

Ratchet cocked his head. "You know I can be reached by phone or intercom, Prowl." he pointed out softly.

"It is unnecessary to point out the obvious, Ratchet." Prowl replied, staring hard at the crooked data-pad.

"You could just come to see her."

Prowl shook his head negatively.

"And why not?" Ratchet probed gently, knowing that Prowl would flee if he was to rough with him.

"I have already come once. I only visit anyone in Med-Bay once; there is no call for me to visit again." Prowl stated.

"But… Prowl, you _do_ want to see her …Don't you?"

"I cannot deny that I am accustomed to her presence and feel its lack. I do not _need_ to see her, however; it is not _vital_ that I see her."

Ratchet felt like shaking Prowl and shouting at him for being so obstinately emotionless, but he knew that that would only hurt the Bot. He knew why Prowl was the way he was. He knew what had torn the majority of Prowl's emotion from him, knew what made him live in fear, knew what drove him to obsess. He knew more about Prowl than most bots did, and perhaps even more than Prowl knew about himself. And he wished that Prowl would come out of his shell.

"Ratchet," Prowl said.

Ratchet pulled out from his brooding. "Yes?"

"I will move on when I am ready." Prowl had guessed his line of thought.

Ratchet studied Prowl's optics for a moment. "When will that be…?" he asked softly, knowing it might chase Prowl away if he demanded to know.

"When?" Prowl echoed, looking down, "When the fear and pain fade."

Ratchet tried to look understanding, but he felt a bit frustrated.

Prowl went on quietly. "You know what I went through. You know how close I was to those friends that I lost. You know how much my emotion core was damaged. You know how scarred it is. Do you think I would _want_ to risk further such damage?"

Ratchet didn't answer. He knew the answer though. It was 'no.'

Prowl narrowed his optics as he kept them riveted on the crooked data-pads on Ratchet's desk. "What if I did form a strong friendship bond with Aurion?" he asked in order to give the answer himself, "We would have that, and then it would nearly kill her if the Decepticons got their claws in me. She is so small, so vulnerable; her system would not well be able to handle well the trauma of the bond being wrenched and destroyed." Prowl shifted one of the data-pads then went on. "As for myself… I could not take another close bond being torn from me. The guardian-ward bond we have frightens me greatly even though it is a very, very slight bond…" he hung his head.

Ratchet reached out to touch Prowl's shoulder, "Prowl, Prowl… we are gregarious creatures; we're supposed to live close and form bonds. It's right, it's okay."

"It hurts when your companions get killed though. I have had too much of that."

"I can understand that, my friend. But news friendship bonds help repair th…" Ratchet halted as he saw Auri limp into the doorway.

"Our game is over," Auri announced as she came in, blithely unaware of the conversation she was interrupting, "Bee is in recharge, and Jolt put the twins in time out in separate corners becau-" she stopped when she realized Prowl was there. "What is wrong, Prowl?" she asked with concern; his body-language was clear.

Prowl straightened up and folded his hands lightly as he settled his wings. He banished the forlorn flicker from his optics, and gave the impression that nothing was wrong.

"Prowl is just a bit stressed right now." Ratchet answered.

"Aw…" The little femme murmured sympathetically. It saddened her to see anyone unhappy or stressed out, especially Prowl since he always kept away from bots who could help. "I could assist with some of the paperwork if I could use a laptop in here." She offered, hoping he wouldn't say no.

Ratchet gave Prowl a stern, forbidding look. He wasn't going to let his patient go back to work while still quite damaged.

"Ratchet rarely allows his patients to engage in work-related activities while in Med-Bay. Thank-you for offering, though." Prowl said reluctantly.

"Rrrratchet…?" Auri coaxed, widening her optics hopefully and looking very innocent and sparkling-like as she took Ratchet's hand. "Couldn't I _please_ help Commander Prowl just _little_ bit…? Only for maybe half hour? And it will help keep me from getting bored so much, please, R-Ratchet? I promise I won't tire myself out even just a _tiny_ bit."

Ratchet grimaced as his stern resolve left him defenseless. Prowl would have laughed had he been the laughing sort.

Auri played gently with Ratchet's fingers as a sparkling would. "I do get bored and bored tires me…" she said helplessly with a sigh. "Please…?" She pressed the medic's hand to her cheek and gazed up at him disarmingly.

"Alright, alright!" Ratchet gave up. "-But only for half an hour!"

Auri hugged him and beamed up at him rewardingly. "You're just the nicest ever."

"Hah. No. You just know my weakness." Ratchet said crossly.

Auri tugged his hand downward, and he crouched to her height.

"What." He demanded, aggravated at being a softie.

She slipped her arms around his neck and kissed his cheek. "Thanks, Ratchet." She said.

"Thanks nothing." He growled, "I ought to spank you for being a little manipulator."

She kept her arms around his neck and rested her head against his. She knew he wouldn't, and she was very tired.

Ratchet picked her up. "I'll hold your academy award for you until after your nap." He said drily as she closed her optics.

"M… 'kay…" she murmured. Ratchet carried her out of his office and back to her berth. Prowl followed.

The old medic gently settled his little patient in her berth, cautious of her door-wings, and carefully covered her with a light blanket.

She was completely in recharge now. Ratchet motioned to Prowl, and they went back to his office. "You said something about visitors?" he asked.

Prowl nodded.

"Well, I have to know who they are before I clear them, Prowl, so tell me."

Prowl told him.

"Ah…!" Ratchet said. Then he smiled. "I guess _they_ won't get in the way too much. I let you know when the younglings wake up and they can visit."

"Very well." Prowl said. "Thank-you. Good day to you."

"See you later, Prowl." Ratchet said as Prowl left.

OooOOoOoOOooO

"Yucky." Auri said, scowling at the capsules in Ratchet's hand.

"Nevertheless you will take them." Ratchet said firmly. "No recalcitrance, or I will swat you."

"Re… recalcitrance?" She was immediately intrigued by the new, long word.

"It means not taking orders and being disobedient. Don't get sidetracked. Take your supplements."

Auri squirmed a little. She really didn't like either of the options Ratchet was giving her.

"Hurry with it." Ratchet told her. Then, deciding that bribing might work better than threatening, he added, "There is a surprise waiting."

"A surprise?" she asked eagerly.

"Not until everybody has had their supplements." Ratchet was firm, and Auri was the last one of the four bots who had to take their supplements.

Auri make a face then took the supplements and put them in her mouth. "Mmmmggguhuhuh." She protested.

"Swallow."

She swallowed obediently and grimaced.

"That's my good femme-ling." Ratchet praised. "The surprise will be here shortly."

"But, what is it?" Auri asked eagerly.

"You will see." Ratchet maintained an air of mystery and went into his office.

Auri sighed and looked around. Prowl had brought a laptop for her while she was napping. She felt a little too restless to settle down and work, though. And Ratchet would insist on monitoring her work. She looked over at her fellows. Bee was intent on something on his data-pad, and the twins were having yet another whispered argument. Those two really need to be well so they could run off their irritation on the racetrack instead of hissing at each other.

Auri sighed and gazed at the wall for a while. Then the Med-Bay doors came open, diverting Auri's attention. She twisted around and looked to see who had entered. It was Ironhide.

Auri was instantly delighted, but her greeting died on her lips as she saw that he was occupied with a small human. The small human was sitting on his shoulder like a pet and laughing merrily as she clung to him. She squealed with glee and giggled as he pretended to swat at her while chiding her playfully.

Auri suddenly felt a strange feeling sweep over her, and it didn't feel good. She decided that she must be sick. She really, really wanted Ironhide to look after her, and she wanted the small human to get off of him. And she felt like going away from everybody. She tucked her head back down and hunched a door-wing a little bit.

She heard Ironhide come over after a minute or two. "Are you awake, MyAuri?" He asked.

She nodded her head and shifted a little to look at him. The small human was still on his shoulder, and her eyes sparkled as she smiled at Auri.

"Would you like to meet somebody?" Ironhide asked.

Auri shook her head. "No, I wouldn't. I don't feel well." She saw surprise in her guardian's optics when she said those words. And he seemed a little disappointed.

Ironhide turned his head, craning his neck a little to look at the small human. He put his hands up to her. "Come on down, MyBelle." He said, and she climbed onto his hands, holding on well to his fingers. He lowered his hands to the floor. "Why don't you go say hi to Bee and the twins, okay?"

"Okay." She was out of sight now, but Auri heard her jump lightly to the floor and scamper away.

Ironhide straightened up and looked at Auri carefully. She felt worse. It was confusing and she didn't like it. She shifted in discomfort and looked down at her berth.

Ironhide sat down on the edge of her berth. "What's going on, my little one?" he asked gently, rubbing her arm.

"I don't feel well." Auri said, frowning because the words were too vague. "I don't know how to explain it…" she said unhappily.

"Have you felt like this for a while?"

She shook her head. "Just since you came in…"

Ironhide considered this and cocked his head. "When I came in with Annabelle? –the little girl?"

Auri paused then nodded. "Yes."

"Are you jealous?" Ironhide asked; it was a guess.

Auri thought about this. She knew of jealousy, but she had never felt it. It was an unpleasant emotion, she knew. She studied the definition of the word then felt very sad. She thought she might cry.

"I d-don't want to be j-jealous…" she murmured sadly, "It's a not nice thing."

Wonder washed over the old mech, and joy that he had such a sweet femme-ling followed. He gently took her into his arms and held her close. "It is natural reaction." He told her softly, his face very close to her down-tucked head. "It is how one responds to this feeling that is the 'not nice thing.'" He explained.

Auri looked up, searching his face, questioning him with her optics.

"I feel jealousy myself when I see you with Optimus." He admitted, "That is not wrong in and of itself." He explained, "It is a natural reaction. –Just like yelping when getting startled, or flinching when getting struck. Now, if I went over and slugged him then took you back and yelled at him, then that would be wrong. But that's not what I do. I remind myself to think reasonably. I know that he could never replace me in your spark. I know that you have a different love for him, and I know that he would never take you away from me. He is not a threat. Once I recall that, the jealousy slips away like beat Decepticon."

Ironhide watched Auri's face as she thought this through. She shifted her optics as she processed this informative instruction. Then she looked up to him again with a new light in her optics.

"You got it?' Ironhide asked.

Auri nodded. "I think so."

"Can you talk your jealousy away now?"

"I… I don't know." She wasn't sure.

"Annabelle is William Lennox's little girl; you are my little femme-ling. I love Belle and care for her, but she has her own place in my spark, one that does not cut your place out. I can love both of you without taking away from one. And at the end of the day, Belle will go to her Daddy and Mommy, and you will come to Chromia and me. We have our own families. And there is friendship between these families, not rivalry." He finished.

Auri thought about this a little. "Ironhide… loves us both, infinitely." She said softly, "And… he loves us each uniquely. …He can love both of us without taking away from one of us. His love of Belle will not diminish his love for me. There is no threat of him leaving me for her." She finished and looked to her guardian for approval. He nodded with a gentle smile.

"They are good words, but do you believe them?"

She looked down and mulled them over in her mind, trying each one. Then she nodded as her smile came back.

"Alright. Is the jealousy gone now?"

Auri nodded again. "Most of the way." She said truthfully.

Ironhide leaned over and kissed her little forehead. "I love you. Don't ever forget it."

She wrapped her arms around his neck, and he picked her up to hug her close. When the hug was done, he set her on her feet on the berth.

"Would you like to meet somebody?" he asked as he'd asked before.

"I would!" she replied eagerly. She was a little concerned about meeting a young human, though.

"Alright." Ironhide said, pleased with her transformed attitude. "Annabelle," he called, "You may come meet Auri now."

Auri sat down on her berth with her legs crossed. She could hear Annabelle's little feet scampering across the floor. Ironhide stooped to pick the girl up, and a moment later he was setting her on Auri's berth.

"There you are." Ironhide said to Annabelle. "Auri, here is Annabelle Lennox. Belle, this is Aurion-Blaze. You two can get acquainted; I think the twins need some… ah…"

"Disciplinary actions executed upon their forms." Auri supplied. Belle giggled appreciatively.

Ironhide raised an optic-ridge and left.

"The twins are great, but…" Belle trailed off and rolled her eyes.

"But they have issues."

"Hehehe! To put it mildly."

"Yeah! Tell me about it."

"It would be incriminating. They took me for 'driving lessons' when I was six years old."

Auri widened her optics. Of all the nerve of the twins!

"Then they hacked the city's system to erase the photos that showed us running red lights." Belle said with gusto. The grownups never approved of this story, and she couldn't tell any of the kids; it was delightful to have an understanding audience.

"Dirty sneaks!" Auri squealed.

Belle giggled. "And I had NO clue about any of it! And then one of the other bots caught us, and BOY, were they in trouble then!"

"Did you get in trouble?"

"Nope. Not really, I mean, I wasn't punished. Daddy and Hide and Prowl all told me about the rules of the stop light repeatedly, though. They wanted to make sure I hadn't gotten any ideas from the twins about how to drive."

"Is six an impressionable age?"

Annabelle pursed her lips to the side reflectively before answering. "Hmm… I am not sure. I suppose all ages of kid-hood are impressionable." She guessed with a shrug.

"How old are you now?" Auri asked.

"Ten." The girl replied with a smile. "In the double digits now."

"Practically a teenager," Ironhide said darkly.

The femme-ling and the girl both looked up.

"Well, you wouldn't want her to _not_ grow." Auri protested.

"Yeah! What she said." Annabelle added with a grin.

"True… You'll understand when you have your own kids, though." Ironhide said.

"That's what they always say," Belle whispered to Auri. Auri nodded sagely.

Ironhide chuckled at them and went off. He'd just wanted to make sure that they were getting along well before he went to talk with Ratchet.

Ironhide and Ratchet conversed about Auri's condition and how she was improving. Ratchet was fairly certain that she wouldn't suffer any long-term effects from her fall. They kept hearing girlish giggling from the main room.

"What…?" Ratchet couldn't possibly imagine what they could be so amused about, and he stopped talking to Ironhide so he could listen. Ironhide smiled and remained quiet so that they could both eavesdrop.

"You didn't go for it!" they heard Belle squeak in horror.

"I **did**!"

"Ooooo…!"

"And they were _huge_ wings. They were cumbersome, and it took forever. And Sides nearly stepped on Chromia's arm."

Annabelle gasped in delighted dread. "She would'a killed him!"

Auri giggled, "That's what I told him! But of course, we _were_ half way done and couldn't go back. And then Sunny banged his shin-plating on the nightstand."

"And it was loud?"

"So loud it made Sides jump, and he tripped over 'Hide's foot and ALMOST fell of the berth."

"Oh- stop-!" Annabelle could hardly speak between giggles. "-I- can't- take- it-!"

"I grabbed his arm, and then **I** nearly stepped on Chromia's arm."

Still in the other room, Ratchet gave Ironhide an odd look. "This sounds rather odd. When and what was this?" he asked in a low tone.

"I'm thinking this was the time they pranked me." Ironhide replied. "The bat wings prank. You remember me telling you about it."

Ratchet grimaced. "Oh, yeah, yeah, I remember. Poor Prowl."

"Poor Lennox!" Ironhide said. "I would say. His coffee spilled."

More giggles came from the main room and Auri concluded, "-Right in front of PROWL!"

"NO!" Belle was properly horrified.

"_YES_!"

"EEEEEK! What as disaster!"

"-And Major Lennox choked on his coffee.-"

"OH, Daddy-!" Belle seemed to think it was outrageously funny, even funnier than Auri thought it was when Chromia made Ironhide choke on his Energon.

"They are very giggly." Ratchet noted drily.

"That's what happens when you put two little girls together." Ironhide said. "Ah, never mind the 'little' part. Chromia and Auri can giggle this much, too."

"Hm."

"Although… I'm thinking maybe the milkshake Belle had on the way probably has contributed to her behavior to a certain degree…" Ironhide mused.

"You're thinking 'maybe'? You could bet on it." Ratchet huffed.

Ironhide chuckled. "I supposed so." He said. Then he heard Auri squeal with hyper-amusement.

"Now what?" Ratchet asked. He and Ironhide paused to listen. Annabelle was talking now.

"… all calmly asleep in our beds when we heard a super-ginormous clatter in the barn. So we all ran out onto the porch as the noise got worse, and Daddy turned on the floodlights and-"

"Oh, that." Ironhide said abruptly to Ratchet. "That was nothing that happened a long time ago. It wouldn't interest you."

The little females in the other room were laughing quite hard now.

"I think it would." Ratchet said.

"I only backed into a plow harrow thing in the dark. That's all."

"That's all?"

"Yup."

"Hm."

"Th-that is SO terrible!" Auri gasped through giggles to Annabelle.

"It was quite caught in his bumper! It REALLY spooked him, and he swerved around the yard a bit trying to get away from this strange earth-monster-thing. –I completely tore up the lawn! We finally got him to calm down, but he couldn't even transform with it stuck like that. So Daddy had to take it off." Annabelle chuckled, "It took Daddy an hour to get it off." Annabelle added.

"That's all, huh?" Ratchet asked Ironhide.

"Yeah." Ironhide said flatly. That went the secrecy of that well covered debacle. "I think I may regret putting those two Energon-thirsty little femmes together. I may have no secrets or dignity left by the time they finished revealing everything about me."

"Ah, they really do love you." Ratchet told his old friend.

"I know." Ironhide replied. He did know it, and he loved them, too, with all his spark.

* * *

I think I probably will not be able to post a chapter next week. I've been so busy that I've hardly gotten to work on this fic, and the next chapter isn't written at all, and my schedule is looking VERY full. But there's a slight chance -MAYBE- that I'll get to write… very slight.

I have good news though! I've started a challenge fic; it's called "The Awesome EightyFour Fiction Challenge," and it for you folks. Basically, you just write a drabble that's 84 words long, and send it to me via PM. The complete directions are in the first chapter of the fic. I've already had a few people send in pieces, and it's been great so far. So, add to the fun.

.net/s/7361522/1/The_Awesome_EightyFour_Fiction_Challenge

(Link may or may not work… you can go to my profile and get to it there if it doesn't).

Okay, that's all for this week! Review! XD Send me off with a smile before my Sociology test. :D


	49. Chapter 49, Prowl, Annabelle, Sam, Prowl

Long time, no update! I am SO glad to finally be able to get another chapter up! The speech for the public speaking class went well, and all the other tests and quizzes have gone well, too. I've missed getting to write a whole lot though. Missed it heaps!

Thanks for all the reviews and alerts, folks, I appreciate and enjoy them VERY much! And welcome to the new readers! :) Glad you folks found and like this story!

* * *

Chapter 49

**Prowl, Belle, Sam, Prowl**

Prowl didn't come around the next day, and Ratchet noticed that Auri seemed to pay a little more attention to whoever came in the door as the day grew later.

'Prowl, Prowl, Prowl. You are a hard-hearted and hard-headed bot.' Ratchet scolded in his head at the un-present Prowl. He sighed though. He knew he was wrong to be impatient with Prowl. He knew that Prowl was hard-hearted in order to protect himself from being broken-hearted.

Still. It did provoke the old medic. He felt quite protective over little Auri, and he didn't like to see her missing her friend.

He considered ordering Prowl in to visit. But, knowing Prowl, he knew that the Commander would argue and not come in if he was told to come visit.

There was more than one way to de-armor a cybercat, though. It was only three-thirty; he had time.

Ratchet turned his full attention to a report that he had been procrastinating on, and he semi-successfully blocked out all sounds of cartoons and laughter in order to write. If his plan worked, he could lure Prowl into Med-Bay. He had done it before. He hadn't done it often, though. He knew that Prowl was plenty sharp enough to recognize a trap if he got caught in it more than a few times.

The report writing went fairly well, and Ratchet was proof reading it when a disturbance louder than the cartoons caught his attention.

"I shot you; you are supposed to go OFFLINE!" Auri protested angrily.

"I'm a Decepticon! They don't go offline that easily!" Sides retorted.

"It was a DEAD-ON HIT!"

"Here, have a grenade!"

"No! You aren't playing nicely."

"Tick, tick, boom. Now you're offline, so there."

"Sideswipe." Prowl's voice reprimanded.

"AH!" Sides yelped in shock. Sunny laughed. "Bumblebee!" Sides scolded, "Don't go using recordings of Prowl's voice on us. It's not nice. You'll give us a spark-surge."

"'_I'd do anything….'_" Bee told them.

"Humph!" Sides huffed. "Well don't. We'll tell him that you're using recordings of him, and he won't like that."

"Prowl wouldn't not like it." Auri defended Bee.

"HEH! Well, he SUPER won't like your little double negatives there."

"I didn't mean- That wasn't my-"

"Okay." Ratchet said, entering into the main room. "You bot-lings have been squabbling enough. You will all quiet down and settle your differences nicely."

There was a quiet chorus of 'yes, sir's, and Ratchet gave them a kinder look. "I know you bots get tired of being cooped up in here," he told them understandingly, "But you've been pretty good so far, and I know you can behave. Try to keep up the good work, okay?"

"Okay," came the answers.

"Alright." Ratchet said, "There are my good little bots." His words made them smile. "I have to finish proof-reading my report for Prowl now." He told them, heading back to his office.

He finished in peace that was only broken by the occasional giggle from the younglings as they played charades.

::Ratchet to Prowl,:: Ratchet sent over the comm. to Prowl.

::Prowl here.:: Prowl seemed a little suspicious of Ratchet. Ratchet ginned; Prowl had good reason. He was a wise bot to be on edge.

::I have finished that report that you were harassing me about yesterday.:: Ratchet replied. ::I'm a little too busy playing sparkling-watcher to leave and bring it, though, so you will have to wait about five hours for it.::

That would make it about 9:00 PM.

::I can come pick it up.:: Prowl said, wanting the report sooner rather than later. He was still quite unaware that Ratchet had played his cards to put the Commander right where he wanted him.

::Alright. Ratchet out.::

Ratchet beamed triumphantly after closing the comm. line. He had successfully snared Prowl.

And he didn't have to wait long for the quarry to show up. Ratchet heard the door open about ten minutes after he'd ended the communication. He remained in his office to keep Prowl's suspicion down, though.

"Hello, Commander!" Auri greeted with delight.

"Good afternoon." Prowl replied.

"I thought you weren't coming until you finished your work at the office." Auri said to Prowl as Ratchet entered.

Surprise struck Ratchet. Prowl HAD been planning on coming!

"I had thought the same thing." Prowl was saying to Auri, "But Ratchet-" He broke off. Rrrrrrratchet. He was on to Ratchet now. Auri saw his optics narrow a little bit.

"Ratchet…?" Auri prompted questioningly.

"Ratchet finally has the report that I needed." Prowl finished levelly. He turned and looked at the medic. "You do have the report?" He asked, implying that Ratchet didn't.

"Don't get your fenders in a wad." Ratchet said amiably. "Of course I do."

With effort Auri managed to not laugh at Ratchet's words. If Prowl hadn't been there, she would have laughed. But she knew the Commander would not like it.

"Here." Ratchet said, holding out the data-pad.

Prowl took it from him. "Thank-you." He said coolly. "Good day, Aurion. I will see you later."

"See you later." Auri said pleasantly as he headed for the door. "Oh! Prowl?"

"Yes?" he turned back.

"Annabelle Lennox said that she was going to come visit me today, but she hasn't yet…" It really wasn't part of Prowl's role, but she knew he could do something about it.

"That is probably Major Lennox's fault." Prowl said. "I will mention it to him."

"Thank-you." Auri said, smiling.

He nodded then headed out the door.

::Ratchet!:: Prowl snapped on the intercom.

::Ratchet here.:: Ratchet smiled as he replied and went into his office. He knew Prowl was going to try to chew him out.

::Stay out of it.:: Prowl ordered.

::Come on, Prowl…::

::She was waiting for Annabelle, not me. So there. Take it, and leave me alone.::

::Alright, alright, Prowl.:: Ratchet decided he would appease the Commander. After all, the patrol-bot did have some agreement with Auri that he would come see her after work. That was a good step forward.

::You will not interfere anymore?:: Prowl asked.

::Not for now away.::

There was a pause on Prowl's end of the line as he considered whether or not to demand more. ::Very well.:: Prowl replied. ::Thank-you. Prowl out.::

Ratchet sighed at himself, feeling a little guilty. He knew he should just let Prowl be and let nature take its course. The poor bot would move when he was ready to move, Ratchet knew that. And he knew he'd just have to be patient. That was one of the hardest parts of being a medic, the being patient part. And he was impatient by nature.

OoOOoOoOOoO

"AURIEEEEEEEEE!" Annabelle squealed as she ran to Auri's berth.

"You're a brat making me wait all day. I'm of a mind to not let you up here." Auri's attempt at mock sternness failed. She was too pleased to see the young human. She grinned as she put a hand down to help the girl up.

Annabelle was up on Auri's berth in a moment.

"What did you do all day, anyway?" Auri asked as she cuddled the smaller being gently.

"I spent loads of time with Daddy since I don't get to see him often while he's on duty." Annabelle said, easily tolerating being handled like a baby. Bots always held her like she was a baby. "Even though we Skype all the time and talk on the phone a bit, we still had lots of catching up to do."

Auri nodded, thinking of how it would be if she didn't get to see Ironhide all the time.

"Hound took us mudding." Belle said, going on, "And Beachcomber took us for a ride on the ocean. Springer gave me some more piloting lessons, and Tracks took me for some 'refined' driving lessons. We had lunch, Daddy and me, that is, not Tracks and me, and we had ice cream afterwards."

"Ice cream… It's still a strange concept to me."

"My favorite flavor is Mint Chocolate Chip! And my second favorite flavor is Cherry, and third is strawberry, fourth is Moose Tracks, fifth is chocolate, and blackberry is really, really good, too."

"How many different flavors are there?" Auri asked, rather amazed.

Annabelle's eyes widened. "How many flavors of Energon are there?" she asked sagely.

Auri cocked her head then grinned. "Probably about as many flavors as there are of ice cream." She decided.

"Yup!"

"'SAM!'" Bee cried with delight.

Auri looked over at Bee in confusion, but Annabelle looked to the door.

"Hello, Sam!" She called, waving to the young man.

"Hello, yourself!" he called back in a cheerful tone.

"Sam!" Auri said with surprise. She had heard much of this person.

Sam grinned, touched by her reception of him. "Auri," he said, "Right?"

"Right as rain." Annabelle said when Auri was too surprised to speak at the fact that Sam knew of her.

Bee hopped off his berth and hugged the young man.

"I know you missed me." Sam said. "But you didn't have to get all beaten up to get me to come out here, Bee. You could have just e-mailed."

Bee shrugged nonchalantly for the fun of teasing Sam back.

"Bee needed some excitement." Annabelle said. "He was bored without having you to keep after all the time." She explained with a mischievous look.

Auri slipped off her berth, helping Belle down, and they went over closer to Sam and Bee.

Annabelle hugged Sam.

"Can't believe you're ten already." He commented, measuring how tall she was against his chest.

"'Practically a teenager,'" Bee played a playback of Ironhide from yesterday.

"Poor Ironhide." Sam chuckled, "He's gonna have a fit when you show up with a boyfriend." He said to Belle.

Belle giggled. "He and Daddy both will. They're both a little crazy."

"Crazy with love you." Auri said seriously.

"I know." Belle said, smiling happily, "But sometimes it is a bit much."

They all sat on the floor to chat and catch up, climbing back onto their berths would separate them, besides being a great exertion of energy. They were still on the floor when twins came out of recharge.

"HEY!" Sunny yelled, jumping off his berth as fast as he could, which wasn't overly fast. "Annabelle Lennox, how dare you come in and let me stay in recharge while you have all the fun!"

"Yeah, no fair! Brat!" Sides added, limping over.

Annabelle hugged first Sunny then Sides. "Hi, twins. You know I couldn't wake you two up if I tried. You sleep like bulldozers."

Auri whooped with laughter at that. Bee chortled softly, and Sam chuckled.

"All we ever get from girls is insults…" Sunny pretended to be much affronted.

"Bulldozers…" Auri liked it.

"Ah, the vices that you pick up from your peer group." Sides grumbled, smacking Auri lightly on the wing. The twins weren't hurt or bothered by the treatment they were receiving; they knew Annabelle and Auri loved them and were teasing because they did.

"Who wants to sit on a big berth instead of on the floor?" Sunny asked. Getting down on the floor wasn't very appealing; he was still a bit sore from the attack.

Everybody liked the idea. Sides helped Bee up, and Sunny gave Auri a hand, and the humans got up, and they went over to one of the bigger berths, one that was sized for a bot Ironhide's or Prime's size.

Bee scrambled onto the berth with a leg up from Sunny while Sides lifted the humans up. Then the twins gave Auri a boost before hopping up themselves.

It was crowded. Annabelle was on Bee's shoulder, and Sam was perched on Bee's knee; Bee had one leg pulled up, and this was the one Sam was sitting on; the other was somewhat trapped under Sunny's legs. Sides' legs were on top of Sunny's, and Auri was half-way on Sunny's lap, trying to figure out where she could put her feet.

The bots squirmed around a little, and then they were completely comfortable. A data-pad wouldn't have fit between any of them, and to look at them, an outsider would have thought they would've been dreadfully uncomfortable, these metal beings all piled up like napping kittens.

They were cozy and relaxed, though.

Sam looked them over and felt a deep sense of contentment. They were his friends, closer friends than most of his human friends. It was good to get to see them again.

There was some good-natured arguing and some joking around. The humans laughed until they couldn't breathe, and the Cybertronians laughed until their vocal processors overheated. They all had to stop then. The vocal processors cooled quickly thanks to their superb construction, and the humans caught their breath with several sighs.

"Ah… that was great." Sunny commented when they had all calmed down.

"Uh-huh!" Annabelle agreed. The others smiled.

"Do you remember when we took you driving when you were six?" Sunny asked.

Belle grinned. "Do I ever!"

"Ironhide still remembers, too." Sides said ruefully.

"Hahaha!" Bee liked that.

"Do you remember when I smudged my black tennis shoes on your fenders?" Sam asked Sunny.

"How could I forget such a horrible thing? I was scarred for life after that experience."

"Yeah," Sides said, "He suffers from tenni-shooah-phobia."

They all had different memories that they reminded each other of.

"Hey, Sides, do you remember when you saw snow for the first time?"

"It was traumatic."

"Do you remember when you had to explain to Optimus what TP-ing was, Sam?"

"That was terribly embarrassing." Sam ducked his head as his face turned red. It had just been a college thing. And Optimus had come the next morning to find toilet paper all over the place. It had taken about an hour before the Autobot leader understood. And then it had been about three hours before the white stuff was all cleaned up.

"Oh, Belle! Do you remember the time you were eating an ice-cream cone while riding with Prowl and you dropped it on his floor boards?"

"Eeeeeek! I did that?" Annabelle squeaked, "I don't remember!"

"Ah, you about four years old." Sunny said. "It went splat, and he twitched and froze up and said in a very stiff tone, 'What just happened?'"

"And," Said Sides, "You said, 'I drwopped my ice crweam.' And he asked, 'Is that bad?'"

The younglings cracked up and Sam laughed with them while Annabelle giggled at her preschool self.

"'Is that bad?'" Sunny repeated. "And then you said, 'Uh-huh. Cuz it's all dirty now. So, I need a new one.'"

"Did she get another one?" Auri asked once the second round of laughter had faded away.

"Nope. Lennox intervened, and she had cookies instead."

Sides snickered. "So then Prowl had melted ice cream AND cookie crumbs on his floor-boards."

"He actually does put up with a whole lot." Auri murmured reflectively.

"Yeah…" The twins considered this more soberly. Yeah, Prowl did put up with a whole lot.

A quiet time followed the lively reminiscing. They were all a little tired. The twins lapsed into a thoughtful silence, and Auri drifted into recharge. Her head ended up on Sides' ankle, and her door-wings were against Sunny's chest, with her uppermost wing almost in his face.

Sam gazed at the bots. They looked like some child's playthings all jumbled together, like some oversized plushies squeezed onto a little kid's daybed.

"I love how you bots have no sense of personal space." He commented quietly after a little bit.

"Me, too." Sunny said. "You humans are a bit strange about that sort of thing." It wasn't slighting. It was just an observation, and Sunny had said it respectfully.

"Yeah," Sam nodded, "I know; f I had somebody's wing sticking in my face like that, I would really have to move."

Sides chuckled. "Uhm, Sam, people don't have wings. If somebody had their wing in your face like that, there would be a _serious_ problem."

"Okay, okay, you know what I mean. Sunny doesn't mind having someone in his face that. I do. Most of the bots don't, though."

"Mm, Prowl does." Sides said, thoughtfully cocking his head.

"Prowl's not exactly like most bots, and I did say most bots." Sam replied. He slid down Bee's leg and put his feet against Bee's midriff, keeping his back against Bee's leg. This was more comfortable than sitting up. He looked up at Annabelle and saw that she was sitting with a foot on either side of Bee's shoulder and her back against Bee's head. She was comfy, too.

"Why isn't he?" Annabelle asked softly. "I've known or noticed for a long time that he seemed a little different, but there never has seemed a right time that I could ask."

The three young mechs met each other's' optics, nonverbally consulting each other about this.

"I guess you're enough and mature enough…" Sunny said slowly.

"Is it bad?" Belle asked.

Bee nodded sadly.

"Will you be alright, Sunny?" Sides asked his brother softly.

Sunny nodded. "Yeah. Just don't go into detail."

The humans exchanged anxious looks.

"There was an alpha unit of bots one time," Sides said, his voice quieter and more subdued than usual, "Prowl was among them… The Magnificent Six, they were called."

"What happened wasn't magnificent..." Sunny murmured.

Sides tightened his arm around his brother to comfort him. "They were a cocky, young bunch, and pretty good at what they did. At one point they were sent into Con territory to give the Cons some trouble." Sides paused, considering what to tell and what to keep secret. Then he went on quietly. "They were betrayed by some neutrals, and the Cons captured them…" he trailed off at the look of pain he saw in his brother's optic. He could feel the pain through their sibling-bond as well.

"Their leader put us through physical torture as well as psychological torture." Sunny whispered, shuddering. "One of the six was killed. Prowl barely survived."

"'Us'…?" Sam asked softly.

"Sunny was one of them. I was somewhere else at the time." Sides answered. "They were all in sad shape when they returned, but Prowl lost it."

"He'd seemed alright through most of the trip back," Sunny said, "But once he got back to the base…" he shook his head. "Ratchet was afraid that he'd go offline. It was a long time… but we finally got Prowl back. Or, a semblance of him."

"That's sad…" Annabelle murmured, finding part of her sleeve to dry her eyes on.

"Don't tell anybody about it." Sunny whispered, looking down at the sleeping femme-ling on his lap.

"I won't tell anybody in the whole universe." Belle promised. Sam nodded.

Bee reached out to rub Sunny's arm, to comfort his friend.

"Hey, we're fine now." Sunny said, pulling a smile. "Prowl's adjusted. I mean, he is Second-in-Command. And I'm me." He smirked self-deprecatingly to make his companions laugh.

They laughed, easing the tension that had built up. Then Bee sighed as he touched the armoring over the scars around his vocalizer. Things would be so much better once the Cons were gone.

The bots found more pleasant things to talk about. They forgot to be quiet, but it never disturbed Auri from recharge. They enjoyed themselves, and time passed pleasantly.

The little group was chuckling at something that Bee had replayed for them when Prowl came in.

"Hi, Prowler!" Sunny greeted.

"Good evening." Prowl greeted him in return.

"You're timing is bad again." Sides told him, "See?" he pointed to Auri, "She's in deep recharge."

Prowl came over and to observe for himself that she was in recharge. She was.

"Actually," Sides said uncomfortably, "She's pinching a circuit in my ankle." He wriggled his foot a little to reinforce this statement.

"It should be wake up time anyway," Sunny said, "I mean, if she naps all evening, she's not gonna be interesting in recharging tonight. And Ratchet will just luhhhhhve that."

Sunny shook the little sleeper; he didn't shake her very hard, though, for he didn't want to hurt or upset her. "C'mon. Hey, Auri! Wake-up, wake-up." He shook her a little more. "Hm." So none of that worked. "Suggestions?" he asked.

"Tickle her?" Bee asked.

"Whoa, stop, halt. I am not tickling any femme. Totally not." Sunny was adamant. "And I'm not gonna pinch her, either. Are you, Bee?"

"'_Whoa, stop, halt. I am not tickling __any__ femme. Totally not._'" Bee replayed Sunny's words. "'_And I'm not gonna pinch her, either_.'" Bee did reach over and try shaking Auri's foot a little, though. But that didn't bother her.

"Now who's recharging like a bulldozer." Sides said, smirking a little.

"Sideswipe." Prowl rebuked.

"What? She was laughing at us for being heavy rechargers and getting called bulldozers by Annabelle. Now it's her turn." Sides reasoned, but Prowl shook his head at him.

"Come on, Aurilaze." Sunny coaxed. He pulled and pushed her upright, but even that didn't wake her. "Aw, really?" Sunny asked he let her slip back down onto his lap.

"At least I got to move my foot." Sides said drily. "But, honestly, we have to get her awake so she'll recharge tonight."

"Commander?" Sunny was desperate enough to ask for Prowl's help.

Prowl came all the way over to the berth. He wasn't tall enough to reach Auri, though.

"Need a hand up?" Sides asked, grinning ruthlessly.

"No." Prowl said. He got up without help and perched precariously on the edge of the berth with one leg tucked under himself and one hanging over the edge. He reached over Sunny's feet and grasped Auri's upper arm and gave her a gentle shake. "Aurion, wake up," he told her and pinched her shoulder a little.

"Hey, lookie there." Sunny said as Auri squirmed a little.

Prowl gave her another gentle shake. Then she reacted, and Sunny got caught in the midriff by her sharp little elbow.

"Ow!" he jumped, and he inadvertently kicked Prowl. Prowl's automatic response was to throw his weight away from the edge of the berth. And to grab Sideswipe's proffered hand. And Sunny grabbed Prowl's arm. So the Commander managed to not fall flat on his back on the floor.

Nope. He was not on the floor. He was on the berth with the four other younglings and the two humans.

"You know," Sides said. "I'd not thought we could fit five bots on this berth."

"Hm." Prowl gave the world a dark look.

"There's room." Sunny said. "I can't feel my feet anymore, but there's room."

"Release my arm." Prowl told Sunny. "I am not falling anymore."

Sunny complied. "Okay."

Prowl shifted himself a little so that he wasn't in quite so much danger of getting overbalanced or getting kicked off the edge. Then he leaned forward to give Auri another shake.

"Ah! Watch the door-wings." Sides protested as he nearly got caught in the face. He made the mistake of pushing the door-wing away.

Prowl snapped his wings up and back, a sure sign of danger for bots in his vicinity. "Hands off!" he fairly snarled.

"Y-yes, sir. I-I'm sorry." Sides said, "I didn't mean to; it was just a reflex."

Prowl lowered head. Then he nodded in acknowledgement of Sides' apology. "It is alright, Sideswipe. I apologize for snapping at you. It, too, was a reflex."

"No problem, Commander." Sides said, his easy-going nature restored. "We know you don't like to be touched."

"Yeah, no touchy Prowlie." Sunny added.

Prowl gave him a stern look. That nickname was off-limits to the twins.

"No nickname Prowl, either." Prowl warned them.

"No fun Prowl." Sides said.

"He's not even ticklish." Bee said.

"Bumblebee!" Prowl objected.

"Not ticklish at all?" Sides was astonished.

"Wrong." Sunny said. "He is. And I know where."

Prowl shifted his door-wings uncertainly. The twins were in a wicked mood, but he did need to stay and wake Auri up.

"I need to wake Aurion." Prowl stated. "Let me be." He reached over to give Auri a gentle shake. And Sunny pointed to the lower inside part of Prowl's door-wing. '_There._' He telegraphed to his twin.

Sides reached forward. Here was the opportunity of a life time.

Suddenly, though, as his hand neared the ticklish wing, he realized something.

He realized that he didn't have enough gall or nerve to intentionally aggravate Prowl by seriously infringing on his personal space. While he did like to act up and annoy the Commander, he had too much respect to go too far.

Prowl did put up with a lot. Prowl did deserve to be treated with respect.

Sides pulled his hand back and looked at his brother to see what his twin thought. Sunny gave him a shy smile. He thought Sides had made the right choice.

"Well…" Prowl said, sounding slightly thwarted. "I think she would have awoken had there not been such a delay between shakes."

"Yeah, my bad." Sunny said heavily, "I meant to kick you off the berth."

"I was not blaming you, Sunstreaker." Prowl replied, almost sounding a little reproachful.

"It's alright." Sunny said, forgiving the Commander and giving him a smile.

Prowl sighed and sat up from leaning forward. "Are you certain she needs to wake up?"

"Pretty certain." Sides said. "Ratchet always has her up around this time."

"Where is Ratchet?"

"Out, house-call, I believe." Sunny supplied.

Prowl shifted, trying to get less uncomfortable.

"I'm afraid we've desensitized her to loud noises." Sunny said apologetically.

"What would happen if you tickled her wings?" Annabelle asked, having seen Sunny motion that Prowl's wings were ticklish. She knew Bee's were ticklish; perhaps Auri's were.

"Haven't you been taking notes, kiddo?" Sides asked. "None of are going to tickle her. And it wouldn't be safe for you to try."

"'Ironhide to the rescue!'" Bee cheered.

Ironhide, just entering Med-Bay, paused. "I need to do some rescuing?" he asked. That was always s dangerous in Med-Bay. "What do I –_**PROWL?**_"

"Good evening, Specialist." Prowl said formally. He was now acutely aware of how awkward his position was. "We are experiencing some difficultly in waking Aurion. Perhaps you could be of assistance?"

Ironhide chuckled as he came over. "Ratchet sent me over to get her up." He said, his optics hardly leaving Prowl. He liked seeing Prowl with the other bots. "The trick is," he said, "Is being her guardian and being able to tickle her."

"'I told you so.'" Bee said.

"We weren't about to tickle her." Sunny said staunchly.

"Good bots." Ironhide told them. Then he tickled Auri's little side. She squirmed and giggled a little. "Wake up, wake up!" Ironhide coaxed, tickling her more. She kicked Bee. "Oooh," Ironhide reached over and picked her up. "Let's not kick Bee." Holding her close, he bounced her a little while continuing to tickle her. Then he went for her wings.

"Eeeeee!" she squealed. Her wings were dreadfully ticklish. "Eeee! Stop, Ironhide!" she squeaked, squirming hard.

"Are you awake?"

"I'm awake! I'm awaeeeeekiey! St-top it!"

Bee chuckled at how much fun Ironhide was having tickling the little femme-ling.

Ironhide stopped and looked at Bee. "I think Bee needs a tickle, too." He said. He set Auri back on Sunny's lap and moved Annabelle and Sam to the adjacent berth. Bee started to slip off the berth to scamper away, but Ironhide blocked him and gave the little scout a hearty tickling. Then he tickled Sunny.

"He was the most ticklish sparkling ever." Sides said.

"You were the second most!" Sunny gasped.

Ironhide tickled Bee's wing to give Sunny a break. "Sides is next,"

Prowl decided that, since everybody was going to get tickled, he had better get away a fast and as soon as possible.

Sideswipe was quite in his way, however. Prowl frowned. He might trip over Sides if he tried to climb over him. And then he might fall flat on his face on the Med-Bay floor.

Prowl glanced over at Bee, who was chuckling helplessly under the fingers of his guardian. Ironhide's back was mostly to Prowl.

Prowl decided that he would rather fall flat on his face on the Med-Bay floor than get tickled.

He started to climb over Sides' legs.

"Whoa, where're you going?" Sides asked. "You'll slip and fall."

"I will not." Prowl replied. Then he slipped.

He was going to fall.

Then strong hands grabbed him. Ironhide had him. Ironhide wouldn't let him fall. Ironhide never let him fall.

"Easy there, Prowl." Ironhide said, lowering him so that his feet touched the floor.

He met Ironhide's optics. Ironhide held his gaze, looking back steadily and kindly. Ironhide almost seemed to be a little reproachful of Prowl for trying to run away, though.

Prowl's optics shifted away.

"Prowl." The Weapons' Specialist said.

Prowl brought his optics back.

"Prowl," Ironhide said sincerely, "I know that I give you a rough time now and then and harass you occasionally, but I would never intentionally do anything that would humiliate or seriously discomfit you."

Prowl knew Ironhide meant it. He felt bad about misjudging and doubting Ironhide. "Understood." He said.

"Alright." Ironhide said with a final nod.

Prowl was going to hug his former guardian later when nobody was around.

"Do you want back up?" Ironhide asked.

"No, thank-you." Prowl replied, "I was merely up there for the purpose of trying to wake Aurion up. And you have accomplished that."

"Hoity-toity!" Sides ejaculated with a disdainful air.

"You leave him be." Auri ordered, leaning over to punch the twin in the arm.

Ironhide smacked her hand lightly as he narrowed his optics. His little ward had been acting a little too high-and-mighty as of late. He was fairly certain that constant exposure to the twins, as well as Ratchet's coddling and spoiling, had been the main agent that stimulated this negative behavior pattern.

Auri gave him a reproachful look that would have melted Ratchet into a puddle. Ironhide didn't even soften at all, though. He gave her a firm look. "You are being too reactive and quarrelsome, MyAuri." He told her gently but firmly.

"He asked for it." She argued jutting out her chin at her guardian.

Bee's optics widened. Sunny and Sides' mouths formed O's of shocked horror. Prowl stiffened.

Ironhide regarded Auri sternly. Now she'd really crossed the line. "Just because somebody 'asks' for something does not mean that you give it to them." He told her.

She looked mulish.

Bee squirmed uncomfortably and then slipped off the berth to get away from the area of tension. Prowl had already edged away.

"You'd better listen to him." Sunny said soberly to the little femme on his lap. Sides was wishing he'd kept his big mouth shut.

Auri glared at Sunny, but she argued with herself silently about it. She was quiet and thought the mechs' words over. Auri knew Ironhide was right. Somehow, it seemed like he always was. Well…

Ironhide watched the subtle movements in her optics and saw when she lowered her head. There, that was a good sign.

She picked her head up and looked over at Sides. He gave her an uncomfortable smile. She gave him a full smile. Scooting off Sunny's lap, she moved over the Sides and gave him a hug.

Sides rubbed her back. He knew it was no fun to get called down, but he was glad that Ironhide had made her straighten up. He wouldn't want his only sister to be a brat.

"Okay, okay, ten second rule." Ironhide said, his protectiveness kicking in at the long embrace.

Sides let Auri go.

"You're just jealous," Auri said fondly though a little shyly. She didn't want to tease him too much at this point.

"Awww, you bet I am." Ironhide lifted her away from the twins and wrapped her in a bear hug. He planted a kiss on her little head. "I love you."

"Mmm, love you, too." She told him. She missed having him and Chromia wake her up in the morning. "Ironhide?" she asked, leaning back to talk face to face.

"Yes?"

"When will I get released from Med-Bay?"

Ironhide was caught off guard. He had no idea of when she would be released. "That I don't know." He replied. "That's a question for Ratchet."

"Guesses?" she coaxed.

"Nope, no guesses." He could have guessed, but he didn't want to get her hopes up only to have them dashed.

She would have pouted for Ratchet, but she knew better for Ironhide. "Okay." She said agreeably.

Ironhide smiled at her. She did know how to behave. Then he glanced over to see what Prowl was up to. The monochromatic bot was looking semi-morosely at a data-pad.

"You'd better take Prowl's visit before Ratchet sends all guests away for the night." Ironhide suggested.

"I'd better." She replied emphatically. Even if Ratchet let everything else slip, he wouldn't let visitors or bedtimes get out of schedule.

Ironhide put her down, and she went over to Prowl, noting happily that she hardly limped at all anymore.

"I'm done making a scene." She said to Prowl.

"Good." Prowl's tone had no praise whatsoever, but he did turn towards her and meet her optics.

She knew that her remark had been out of line in the Second-in-Command's presence and kept quiet, knowing that there was nothing she could or should say. She stood waiting for him to direct the interaction. This gained the Commander's approval, and he motioned towards a couple waiting chairs.

Auri nodded, and they went over.

'Nonverbal communication,' Ironhide thought, watching them. 'They've got it down good.'

Prowl touched a chair, designating it as Auri's, then took one for himself and brought out a data-pad. The two bots sat close and quietly discussed the work-related material on the pad. There were some new regulations that would need some translation editing. And a small problem regarding the road-work budget has arisen. A new liaison would be coming in a several weeks, and arrangements would need to be made for her.

"I think," Prowl said cautiously, "That I may let you be the bot she interacts with the most." He let that sink in.

Auri's optics widened. Prowl thought she could handle a liaison? She was delighted! Then she thought rationally about it. It would be a huge responsibility. She would have to be extremely serious about it. She was still delighted, but in a more mature way.

"I… I would be honored, Commander." She said formally.

"We will begin special training tomorrow then." Prowl said.

"Is that cleared with Ratchet?" She asked, keeping a respectful tone.

"No. But it will be." Prowl replied.

Auri nodded seriously in acknowledgement. Secretly, however, she was bouncing with excitement. It was going to be a huge new experience. And perhaps somewhat of an adventure. Anticipation was a delightful thing.

* * *

Yay! I got this chapter out here for you folks! I really, really missed getting to post the last two Mondays. *pout*

Anyways, so this liaison is a sociologist, and she will have a number of questions about the Bots and their culture. …Questions about how they interact, and why they do what they do, development, and roles, and stages, and any other such things. I'm bringing this up a few chapters early because I want to offer people a chance to send in questions or suggestions for questions about the Bots. I may not answer all the questions, but I will at least consider them. So, ask away. :)

The "Magnificent Six" group and mission story came from TF Wikipedia; I didn't make it up. I did make up the aftereffects of it, though.

And review. ;) I love all your reviews. :)


	50. Chapter 50, Training

Hi folks! I'm still here. I do not have writer's block (in fact, I have tons of ideas!); I just have no time to write! Okay, so I do, but it's in little bits here and there between homework, work, study, driving to school and back, and sleep.

I got another Transformer action figure this week! Ironhide was my first, and this new one's my second, but he's my first Decepticon. He's G1 Thundercracker! And he's super cute! X)

(Well, please overlook typos and such… I proofread a number of times, but my brain's a little groggy from school and this cold that I caught… Seriously, there were five rows of chairs in my classroom, and I miscounted and started to sit in the wrong row…).

Okay, on to the story.

* * *

Chapter 50

**Training**

It was only nine o'clock in the morning, but Ratchet already had five notices to read.

He had notice from Ironhide requesting him to not spoil Auri so much. He knew ol' Hide was right to ask him this. He'd been horrible at letting Auri always get her way with him. He was supposed to stand up to her little sparkling face and not give in somehow. He was not sure HOW he would manage, but he would somehow or face Ironhide. He remembered a time when he was strict with the little femme… there was no going back to that time, but he would make some changes.

And he had a notice from Chromia stating that she would scrap him if he needlessly upset her sparkling. Femme-creator surrogate was being overprotective. Again. How on earth was he supposed to please both Ironhide AND Chromia? He wasn't sure. He knew he would do it, though, or suffer.

He also had a notice from Optimus ordering him to allow Prowl to begin training Auri for the coming liaison even though she was still in Med-Bay. He didn't like this, allowing office work while a patient was still in Med-Bay, but Prime's word was law.

Ratchet also had a notice from Prowl ordering him to immediately cease and desist with his romantic fantasizing about him and Auri because it was simply **not **going to happen. Ratchet shook his head and smiled. Prowl didn't know everything. Really, he didn't.

He had another notice from Prowl, too, only this one informed him that he would be at Med-Bay at 10:00 AM sharp to begin Aurion's training. Ratchet nodded his head with resignation. This time Prowl would be right.

"Rrrratchet," Auri wheedled from her berth. "Can I get up this morning yet?"

Ratchet looked over at her, fingering the notice from Ironhide. The young mechs were still in recharge and would be for a long time, so Auri was a bit bored. "When did I say you could get up?" Ratchet asked.

"Nine-thirtyyyyyy, But Rahhhtch,"

"No 'buts.'" He told her, wincing inwardly at the thought of Chromia trying to pummel him.

"Mean Ratchet." Auri accused.

Then Auri sulked.

She sulked until nine-thirty, and then she kept sulking and didn't get up.

Then it was nine-fifty, and Ratchet was at his wits end. He hoped Moonracer would know more about sparklings than he did. 'Whoa! Where did that thought come from?' he was astonished. Oh, of course he and Moonracer were going to bond after the war, but what did sparklings…? Nevermind. That would be later. Right now he had Ironhide and Chromia's sulking sparkling on his hands.

He would have to come up with a solution fast before Prowl came in and was severely displeased. A severely displeased Prowl and a severely ill-tempered Auri were a combination he did NOT want to have on his hands. That could get dramatic. And dangerous. And messy. He could imagine the disastrous outcome… Auri would get throw a fit, Prowl would reprimand her, Auri would be devastated and start crying, Prowl would begin second-guessing himself and short out, and then Auri would be hyper-upset because she caused him to short out, and then Chromia would come in with a heavy artillery gun and demand to know what happened, and Ironhide…

"Greetings, Ratchet." Prowl said, coming in.

Ratchet twitched in surprise and winced. Prowl had almost sounded cheerful.

"Good morning, Prowl." Ratchet said, a rather fake smile on his face.

Prowl cocked an optic-ridge slightly at him and dipped a wing, but offered no verbal comment. "Is Aurion awake?"

"Yes, she is." Ratchet replied, thinking, 'awake and bratty. And I'm partially to blame, but I can't figure out the solution.'

"Are you unwell?"

"ME? I'm fine, Prowl. Go on with your training stuff. I have work to do." He waved the clueless bot on.

Prowl gave him a slightly doubtful look, but after a moment the Commander moved on towards where the patients were.

"Good morning, Aurion." Commander Prowl greeted.

"Is not." Auri objected in a pouty tone, keeping her back to him. "Ratchet's mean." She added a flit of her door-wings to emphasis this.

Prowl's optics swept towards Ratchet for a second then he looked back at Auri. "Ratchet is more than fair." He informed her coldly, "He gave you a full half-hour in which to prepare for our training session."

"Mmmpfh."

"I will not tolerate being addressed in this manner, Aurion. Are you serious about wanting this job?"

"Yeah…"

"_**Yes**_? Prove it then. If not, I will withdraw the offer and suppose that you are not serious about any of the work."

Auri gasped and rolled over to sit up and stare at him in shock. His face was like the Decepticon statue in her art history file. Only his optics were like glittering blue ice. He… he was threatening her job?

"I… I…"

"You have five minutes." Prowl informed her. Then he walked off to the chairs where they'd sat to work yesterday.

Auri gasped again, distraught as the full effect of his words hit her. She'd forgotten how strict Prowl was. And Prowl was dead serious! He would fire her if she wasn't there and ready in five minutes, no kidding, no 'sorry,' no "oops, you can try again.'

Auri grabbed the little Energon cube that she' reused during her sulk and downed it like a starving Ironhide.

Fuel was taken care of, now she needed her data-pad. She put her hand in the cubby beneath her berth. The data-pad wasn't there!

She rolled off the berth, and crouched to peer into the cubby frantically. The data-pad was definitely not there. She dashed around and looked in the other cubby, and it was empty, too. She needed her data-pad to take notes with! She needed it very badly. Her life depended on it! She stamped her foot in frustration then moved on.

She looked under the berth anxiously. It wasn't there. She looked on the shelf near the berth, but it wasn't there either.

Tears welled up in her optics. She couldn't find the thing anywhere and Prowl was going to fire her from the job because she'd been bratty and unprepared. She stuffed her fists in her optics, not wanting to cry.

She couldn't help but whimper though.

Prowl was watching all this very closely without seeming to. He saw Ratchet start to move towards the distraught femme-ling.

::No, Ratchet.:: he ordered softly over the comm.

::Prowl! She can't find her data-pad. And you're going to fire her for it!::

::She can find it. She has two point four minutes.::

::You're cold and cruel to be so harsh with her this early in the morning.:: The incensed medic sent back angrily as Auri started choking back sobs. ::SHE'S CRYING!::

::She can handle it.::

There was an angry splutter of static from Ratchet's end of the comm.. ::Skrik-glick! Prowlllll-! YOU-!::

::Watch Aurion.:: Prowl told him quietly.

Ratchet turned seething optics to his poor little Auri. Then he blinked. Auri was calming herself down and regaining her poise. She squared her shoulders and tucked back her pretty door-wings, and she pressed her hand against her forehead as she focused her thoughts.

Then she turned and hurried over the Sunny's berth and took her data-pad from his cubby. That's where she had left it.

Then she sprinted over to the chairs where Prowl was.

Twenty seconds late. That was a lot when the time limit was five minutes. She held her data-pad tightly and willed the tears to stay back.

"Sit," Prowl ordered.

She obeyed.

"This job is going to be challenging. Do you still want it?"

She opened her mouth but was afraid speak for fear of breaking down in tears. She nodded.

Prowl studied her. He really did have the purest blue optics she'd ever seen on a bot except for Prime. Only Prime's optics were a little more warm and friendly.

She felt more miserable and had to stuff a fist in her right optic. "Y-yes, C-com-mander, I still w-want i-t-t th-the job." She managed to say.

"Good," Prowl said, his tone less harsh, "For I want to give it to you."

She felt better. Much better. She brushed the tears away. "Th-thank-you, C-commander."

"You will have to be prompt and prepared, though." He warned her.

"I will be." she promised.

"You will have to not act like a spoiled sparkling."

"I will not." She promised.

"Alright." It was settled then.

Auri brushed her face again, trying to be rid of the tears that had spilled.

Prowl handed her a clean polishing cloth. She took it, dried her face and hand with it, and then folded it back neatly.

"Are you ready now?" Prowl asked.

"Yes, sir." Auri replied. She was ready.

Ratchet had covertly watched the exchange while battling over-protectiveness over Auri. Now he was beginning to see that Prowl wasn't being quite as cruel as he'd appeared to be. It was a serious job that Prowl was giving Auri; she would have to be on her very, very best behavior, and he had to make that crystal clear from the absolute start. He forgave Prowl and turned back to his work.

Auri paused after answering Prowl. She was ready, but she did wonder if Prowl always had a polishing cloth on hand. Sunny always did because he was vain about his looks and never wanted to look smudged. Why would Prowl have always have one on hand?

"Is something unclear?" Prowl questioned, reading her expression. His tone was still a bit sharp.

"No, sir." Auri replied with a slight shake of her head. It could be, after all, a slightly personal question, and one was NOT allowed to ask Prowl personal questions.

Prowl considered her negation. His tone could have frightened her for asking something important, he mused.

"Are you sure?" he asked her more kindly, using a tone that would encourage questions.

Auri tilted a door-wing a little. "I was simply wondering if you always had polishing clothes on hand, but it is… not… something I would ... ask about."

Ratchet smothered a chuckle.

Prowl blinked his optics twice. Where in the galaxy did she find such questions to ask? And how was it that she could put them forth without actually asking them? And why did he always feel compelled to answer them?

"That's all." Auri said shifting, indicating that she wanted to move on and not have him sit in astonished silence.

"I do always have polish clothes on hand." Prowl answered, "A professional appearance includes cleanliness and neatness. Smudges are neither clean nor neat."

"Understood." Auri said, thinking about Sunny. He certainly wasn't professional.

"It is not about vanity." Prowl added, suddenly thinking of Sunny.

Ratchet, with his back towards the two door-winged bots, grinned. The very fact that Prowl had to bring up the topic of vanity said something to him.

"Understood." Auri said.

"Enough digression now," Prowl said, though not harshly. He handed another data-pad to Auri. "The liaison's name is Mariah Phillips," he said.

"Phillips… better than flat." Auri said.

Prowl raised an optic-ridge in surprise. He'd almost forgotten that she often came up with random comments that usually threw him off. They were almost as disconcerting as the wild questions. That aside, though. "She is a person, not a tool." He told the femme-ling, "You must treat her with proper respect. Do you recall what we discussed about names?"

"Yes, I do." Auri said promptly. Never make fun of them.

Prowl went on, "She has been here once before, three years ago. She had to end her work here abruptly due to a rise in Decepticon activity. Since then, she has been busy doing other studies. It is our turn again. I hope that this time she will have a little more success."

Auri nodded.

"Agent Phillips is coming to study our society and how we relate to one another, among other things."

'Yay, this'll be great fun.' Ratchet thought with sarcasm, but Auri nodded to show Prowl her eagerness to hear his words.

Prowl went on, "We will need to give her as much information as possible, but we need to be tactful and discrete about it, and we do not, and in some cases should not, tell her everything."

"How will I know what to not tell her?" Auri asked, really starting to realize how serious her job was going to be.

"You have a fairly good instinct." Prowl told her. "And I will give you guidelines. General things you may tell, but you should exercise caution regarding details."

Auri wrote this down.

"For example," Prowl said, "You may relate that some bots may have a mischievous nature, but you may not reveal that they give into the nature by filling the Second-in-Command's desk drawer with Jell-O."

Auri smiled in amusement. "_Allegedly_." She corrected. She got the displeased Prowl chin-tuck. It was more eerie than the displeased Ironhide chin-tuck.

He had actually hoped that she would give the twins away somehow and he could finally either find a new suspect or prosecute the twins for it. No such luck. He had to go on, though. "I was using an example." He said.

"Understood." Auri said, but she hadn't been sparked yesterday, and the twins had warned her, so she knew what he'd been doing.

Prowl went back on course. "Generals, not specifics." he summarized.

"Generals, not specifics." Auri echoed quietly to reinforce the point.

Ratchet began to tune out the training session. Most of it was rather dry. Do such-and-such at this time; don't do such-and-such at this time. Sometimes this or that is alright, but other times do not even consider it.

Ratchet wasn't sure _how_ Auri put up with all of it, but he saw as he watched that she _did_ put up with it. Prowl had whipped her into shape with his first few interactions with her that day, and she was staying like a good, mature bot. Perhaps, hopefully, she would stay like a good, mature bot even after Prowl left, and then he, Ratchet, wouldn't have to deal with Brat-a-Con Auri.

"What should I do if she asks a question I do not know that answer to?" Auri asked later in the session. Ratchet recognized a more formal pattern arising in her manner. He smiled to himself. 'Improvement…'

"You have all the answers." Prowl told her.

"No, I do not." Auri replied, slightly confused.

"Yes, you do," Prowl persisted, "you have all the answers."

"I don't," she protested, a small frown coming to her face.

"You do." Prowl said meaningfully.

"I-yi donnnn't!" She was starting to get upset. Prowl was acting extremely contrary in her optics. She most certain did not have all the answers! She DIDN'T! He had to be picking her. It wasn't nice at all, and she wasn't feeling so great, anyway. Meanie! Mean Prowl. She stuffed a fist in one of her optics. "I don't" she whined. Ratchet grimaced; perhaps he'd relaxed too soon.

"No whining." Prowl ordered.

Auri considered wailing. That wouldn't work at all though. Prowl would hate it. And she needed to be a mature bot. "Yes, Commander." She murmured.

"Thank-you." Prowl said.

Auri was confused again. Thank-you for what?

"Shall we try again?" Prowl asked.

"Yes, sir…" Auri said, thinking 'no, meanie.'

"You have all the answers." Prowl told her again.

Auri eyed him as one would eye a malfunctioning toaster-oven. Really, Prowl?

"You _do_ have all the answers." Prowl said earnestly, putting careful emphasis on each word and watching her optics. He really, really wanted her to figure it out for herself. She had fairly good reasoning skills, but sometimes they did fall short. He wanted to make her work them this time even if it meant confusing her a little before she used them.

She scowled at the unhelpful Commander.

He smiled ever so slightly, a trusting smile.

Auri straightened up in surprise at the smile. Then she pursed her mouth. He was doing something, she finally realized, but what was it? What was Commander Prowl doing? What mysterious function was running in his head? What was she missing that she should get?

How could she find out? Simple reasoning was getting her nowhere.

"Please clarify." She said to the Commander.

Prowl was infinitely pleased with this response. It showed him that she had figured it out without further prompting. This was very good.

"You have all the answers," he said, "Because you know whom to ask, whom to consult, and where to go for details regarding complex subjects."

Auri blinked. Why, of course! If she didn't know what Prowl was talking about, she asked him to clarify. That she had just done. And if she didn't know how a canon worked, she went to Ironhide. If she was uncertain why her leg hurt, she went to Ratchet. She _did_ have all the answers!

Prowl couldn't help but smile slightly at the grin that spread over his subordinate's face as she reasoned out his words.

"I do have all the answers." Auri said, looking quite pleased. ('Thanks for inflating her ego,' Ratchet thought drily).

"Is that so?" Prowl asked, moving on to his next point.

"Indeed." Auri said. She was pretty sure that she was on the same page as Prowl was. Well… at least within a couple pages of where he was. Nobody except Prime was ever on the same page as he was.

"So, then, you can explain why the Ironhide is permitted to openly carry massive cannons in a meeting where all weapons must be kept in storage?"

Auri tried hard to not chuckle but she couldn't help it. "That is an easy question, Commander. Ironhide questions are easy."

He looked down at his data-pad to hide the tiny bit of mirth in his optics. "Just answer."

"He is permitted to carry because he is part of Prime's elite body guard." Auri explained.

Prowl nodded. "Correct." He said. Then there was a slight pause before he went on, "Now, if Commander Prowl is of higher rank than Ironhide, why then does Ironhide usually treat him as he treats the subordinate bots?"

To hear Prowl refer to himself in the third-person was highly funny to Auri; Commander Prowl calling himself "Commander Prowl" just sounded silly. Auri tried not to laugh; it was completely unprofessional to laugh at this moment. She twisted her mouth and ducked her head a little to hide it.

Prowl cocked his head and lifted his wings a little, "What is so funny?" he asked innocently.

Auri clapped her hands over her mouth. Innocently confused Prowl was funnier than third-person-self-reference Prowl. And being around the humorous twins constantly had completely stripped away her control when it came to not laughing at something.

Prowl put his head up levelly and lowered his wings in slight disappointment as she chortled at him. He'd acted an amusing manner to test her control of amusement, and she'd shown very little. He just didn't know that for him (of all bots) to act in an amusing manner was at least twice as funny as any other bot acting in an amusing manner.

"Agent Phillips is going to ask 'silly-sounding' questions, Aurion." He said patiently. "You will have to not laugh at her."

Auri sobered. "Yes, sir." Oops… so he'd been testing here there and she'd messed up. It was okay, though. She was learning.

"We do not want to offend or hurt humans' feelings by laughing at them." He explained. "And we do not want to discourage them from asking questions."

Auri nodded, thinking about Ironhide. He never laughed at her when she had a question. He might chuckle a little from time to time, but their relationship was so close that she understood that he wasn't laughing at her to deride her, but laughing because he enjoyed her. The liaison wouldn't have this relationship.

"So, if Commander Prowl is higher ranking than Ironhide, why then _does_ Ironhide usually treat him as he treats the subordinate bots?" Prowl asked again.

Auri kept a straight face. "Ironhide treats y… uh, Ironhide treats," she paused then went on seriously, "Ironhide treats Commander Prowl as he does his other subordinate bots because he was Commander Prowl's guardian at one time. As a guardian, Ironhide would have been protective of and authoritative towards him. Some of those feelings still linger today, and they manifest themselves in his treatment of Commander Prowl."

Prowl nodded. "Good answer." He said. And he had noted, and was pleased, that she had used his title in her answer. "How did Prowl get to be Second-in-Command if Ironhide is such an older and more experienced bot?"

Auri looked blank for a few moments. She had never even considered this before.

"That was Prime's choice…" she decided slowly after a minute. "He would have noticed qualities in Commander Prowl that he wanted in a Second-in-Command and chosen him on that basis."

"Qualities such as…?" Prowl probed in an impersonal tone.

"Ah…" Another question she'd never considered. "Qualities anyone in an important position would want in a Second." She replied. That was rather vague, she decided, so she added, "A cool head, sharp reasoning skills, an optic for detail, and..." She couldn't think of a fourth thing. "And… And the like." She put on a confident tone for show even though she knew Prowl knew she was uncertain.

Prowl nodded. "Good. You voiced no doubts."

Auri smiled. She was making it so far.

"What does a robot think is funny?" Prowl asked.

Auri paused. This was a simple question, but there had to be some catch… 'Robot!' she realized suddenly.

"Robots have no sense of humor." She answered confidently. "Transformers, however, do have a sense of humor, and it varies from one to the other as it does in humans."

Prowl bowed slightly. "Excellent." He said quietly. He was impressed that Auri had caught that and answered so well. There was a great deal of tolerance of the usage of the word "robot" for Transformers on Base, and from some standpoints that was good, but he didn't want liaisons marking them down as just robots.

Auri couldn't have been happier. To hear Prowl say "excellent" to her felt like the most wonderful thing in the world. It was one the highest praise words he used. Auri felt like grinning with delight, but she kept her professional face up.

"What is the difference between a 'mech' and a 'femme'?" Prowl asked next.

Auri looked astonished first. Then she looked much abashed. The little femme was a bit embarrassed. "Erm… Commander? Will she really ask that?"

"Possibly." Prowl answered.

"How could she even get a job if she can't tell-?"

"I ask the questions." Prowl said rather hastily. He now realized that he'd embarrassed her a little, but he didn't want her to embarrass herself a lot. Or her to embarrass him.

"Understood, but –"

"No 'buts.'"

"Yes, sir." She replied, but she wasn't sure what to say next. Really, she wouldn't mind explaining the difference to another femme or female, but a mech, and the Commander at that, was a whole different story. A bot just didn't share certain things with bots of the other make.

The elation she'd felt over hearing him say excellent to her last response was fading.

"Generals, not specifics." Prowl reminded coaxingly after a few moments of silence.

"Oh!" why, of course, "Well, what's the difference between a boy and a girl?" Auri asked back.

"Right answer." Prowl told her.

"Generals not specifics…" Auri said to herself again. "But, Prowl, what if she asks something very specific?"

"We just did that. Be prepared to give a general answer, and know of whom to consult if she wants something more specific."

"Ah." She wrote that down.

"Do you any further questions before Ratchet throws me out?"

Auri looked up quickly in astonishment.

"I have been given a strict time limit." Prowl explained.

"We will have more lesson sessions, won't we?" Auri asked, slightly panicked. They hadn't talked nearly enough about what to do.

"We will, we will." Prowl reassured her soothingly. "We have another one scheduled for this afternoon, and sessions at the same times on a number of the following days."

Auri couldn't help but sigh a sigh of relief. She felt in no way ready for the coming task. She wanted, needed, much more tutoring before she would be ready.

"Any other questions?" Prowl asked.

"Yes… actually." She said a little shyly.

"Go ahead, you may ask me." He encouraged her.

"There is something some bots do that I don't understand fully what it means."

Prowl didn't know what she was talking about, but he braced himself for something unusual and nodded for her to go on.

"It is…" she hesitated, "It's like…" she sighed, unable to figure out how to explain it.

Prowl looked over at Ratchet to see if Ratchet was following what was going on, but the medic had long since tuned them out.

"It's this," Auri said. Then she summoned up enough nerve to touch Prowl's upper arm. She pressed two fingers firmly against part of the upper plating on his upper arm.

Prowl's expression was one of curiosity. Other than that, though, Auri received no response. She withdrew her hand.

"Or, something like that." She said, rather disappointed and somewhat puzzled. The bots she'd seen had responded to that touch.

"Indeed, _something_ like that." Prowl said. "You would have received a response if you had done it correctly."

"Oh."

"There are pressure points that you do not know about." Prowl explained. He reached and took her hand gently and showed her when to put her fingers. She pressed firmly without warning. Discomfort swept into his system; he squirmed involuntarily and moved away from her touch with grimace.

Auri swiftly clasped her hands in her lap. She had suddenly got the sense of awkwardness. She, of all bots, had made Prowl duck away like a misbehaving sparkling.

"Like that." Prowl said.

"Not doing it again." Auri stated stiffly.

Prowl half-smiled. He knew she wouldn't. Then he explained what had happened. "The early Transformers, as slaves under the Quintessons, were encoded with certain pressure points in order that they could be more easily controlled."

Mild disconcertion rose up in Auri. The thought of being a slave was appalling, and the thought that there was still something in bots' encoding from that time was disturbing.

"The encoding has weakened over time," Prowl went on, "But some of it still remains. Pressure there, on that circuit, makes bots uncomfortable. Pressure is given by dominant bots over insubordinate subordinates to remind them who is in charge."

Auri twitched her wings in discomfort. "So, what I did was actually completely out of bounds for me to do."

"Yes." Prowl said with a slight smile. He could have told her that beforehand, but he'd been curious to see what would happen, how he would feel like responding, and how she would respond.

"I did not know that." Auri said, slightly disgruntled with him for letting her do that. If it wasn't allowed, really, he should have stopped her, so she thought.

"I knew." Prowl said simply. He was perfectly calm, Auri saw. It hadn't bothered him in the least. Auri knew she should follow his lead and not be bothered by it.

"Alright." She said, accepting his lead.

"I will back at two o'clock this afternoon to give more instruction." Prowl said, rising.

Auri rose as well. "Understood. I will be ready." She spoke with special emphasis to reassure him that she was serious.

Prowl met her optics, pleased. "Good," he replied. "I will see you then." He told her with a touch of warmth in his tone.

Auri watched as he left; he nodded to Ratchet as he passed the medic, and then he went out the door. Auri wished he could have stayed and talked a while longer. It was hard to get him to talk, but when he did, it was always interesting. He had other things he had to do, though. He had responsibilities. Lots of them.

She had lots of them, too, she suddenly realized. 'I think life must get more and more complex as it goes on.' Auri thought as she considered that her responsibilities had grown considerably in the past few days.

Ratchet was sitting in his chair, watching her thoughtfully.

Auri, on noticing him, remembered how things had been before Prowl had come in. 'Poor Ratchet,' she thought, 'He does so much for me, and I was rude and mean to him when I didn't like what he told me.'

She went over to the old medic quietly, a little self-conscious since he was watching her, and held out her arms for him to pick her up.

A reluctant, one-sided smile appeared on his mouth, and he picked her up. Once in his arms, she wrapped her arms around his neck and kissed his cheek.

"That's for being such a nice medic and taking such good care of me." she told him adoringly.

'She is going to break mech's sparks when she gets old enough…' Ratchet thought, melting.

He kissed her in return, pressing his lips to her little head.

"That's for being Auri." He told her.

She giggled at him.

Then she saw his desk.

"That's messy." She said, pointing.

Ratchet knew she wanted to neaten it for him; it was her favorite thing to do when she came into Med-Bay, not so much because she was cleaning up something, but that she was helping and serving a friend.

So far, he'd not let her up enough for her to notice how untidy it had gotten, but now she'd seen it.

He smiled and motioned that she could do as she pleased. This got him another kiss on the cheek then, a few moments later, the femme-ling was standing at his desk, happily rearranging the items on it.

'It will be three days before I can find anything again…' Ratchet thought. Then he grinned. He could live with that.

* * *

There's the update! :) I'm not overly satisfied with it… but every time someone says that about her update, I've always liked what she wrote, so hopefully that will be the case here. I miss writing and updating a lot! :/ Hopefully school will slow a little and I can get back into writing a bit more. For now, I'll update when I can. Review! :D


	51. Chapter 51, TLC

HI! I'm so busy, it's not even funny! :/ And I wrote this chapter last week instead of doing my homework. Not the smartest thing to do, I know, but writing is kind of a therapeutic thing for me, and I kind of needed it. So, I proof-read it several times, but my frazzled college-brain probably didn't catch all the typos, so sorry if anything doesn't read right. I've got to go prepare a speech for communications class tomorrow… you all may enjoy the fic though. :) Hope you like the new chapter! I like it better than last chapter.

And I love this: 77 favs, 273 reviews, 70 story alerts! Thanks SO much, you all are awesome! :D Energon treats for all my bot friends! Okay, go read now! ;)

* * *

Chapter 51

**TLC**

Auri half-closed her optics and relaxed as she leaned back against Chromia's hands. They were in the relatively small shower in Med-Bay. Her femme guardian was gently drying her back after helping her wash. While Auri had healed a great deal was starting to feel much, much better, she still experienced a bit of stiffness when she tried to turn very far, and she didn't feel much like over-exerting herself to wash up.

She'd asked Chromia for help, and the older femme had been happy to give her a hand. She knew Chromia would do anything for her, just because Chromia loved her, and not because of anything she'd ever done. Unconditional love, it was called, or so Ironhide told her. It was a hard concept to grasp, but whatever it was, Auri liked it.

And she liked the backrub.

She remembered a time when she had complained that Chromia was too rough when she toweled the little door-wings, but now she liked the roughness. Chromia was being extra gentle because of the accident, actually, and Auri was kind of missing the warmth that came from the friction of the brisk toweling.

"I can't feel that…" she teased lazily.

Chromia smiled as she snapped the femme-ling's leg lightly with the towel. "Feel that?" she asked, teasing back.

"You feel something from Ratchet if you hurt me." Auri replied cheekily. Chromia chuckled; Ratchet didn't dare hurt her. "I don't get taken seriously." Auri muttered with a fake pout.

"Yes, you do." Chromia said, wrapping the towel and her arms around her femme-ling and pulling the small femme onto her lap. "I just don't fear Ratchet." She added.

"Sh! Don't tell him that!" Auri whispered.

"I won't." Chromia whispered back.

Auri giggled. Then she sighed with contentment. It was nice to be with her femme-guardian again. True, Chromia had come to visit her often during her convalesce, but the twins or Bee had always been too near for the just the two of them to have fun together.

"I don't want to grow up." Auri said after a moment.

The statement surprised Chromia a little, as well as amused her. "Why not, MyAuri?" she asked with a smile.

"I like being looked after." Auri said simply with a slight forlorn note.

Chromia paused. "Do you think we'll kick you out when you grow up?" she asked, concerned.

Auri shrugged a little. "I… don't know. Flareup lives by herself."

"Flareup." Chromia said. That explained a lot. "Flareup lives by herself because she wants to. She doesn't like 'being looked after' the way you do, Bright-Spark. She's independent, always has been, actually, and she made the choice of where and how she lives."

"Oh..."

"Ironhide and I wouldn't kick you out. Ever." Chromia said. She rose and seated Auri on the bench. "You don't need to ever worry about being alone." She added softly as she knelt and started drying Auri's lower legs with another towel.

"Alright." Auri was comforted and encouraged now. She dropped her towel off and began using the end of it to get the water off her arms. She considered Flareup and Flareup's personality. In no way could she ever picture Flareup in her own place. Flareup liked to do her own thing, not following anybody unless she absolutely had to. Then Auri realized something. She'd not seen Flareup at all; lots of bots had come to visit the mechs and her, but Flareup hadn't shown up even once. Had she left earth again?

"Where's Flareup?" Auri asked. She felt Chromia pause. Then Chromia went on with the toweling.

"She's still here." Chromia said. "I think she's coming to visit today, actually."

"What aren't you telling me?"

"She's in the brig." Chromia said.

"Ohhhhhh…" That would explain why she hadn't come. And Auri wasn't too surprised. She was a sorry, but not surprised. "Did she lose her temper and smash something important?"

"A Jeep and half a tank." Chromia said drily.

"Ah…" Auri said softly. She sighed. Poor Flareup. Flareup had temper issues from time to time, but it usually took something bad to set them off. "What happened?"

Chromia paused to choose her words carefully. She didn't want to upset Auri by making her feel like a cause of Flareup's wrath. "Flareup was upset about something or other that the Cons did that she couldn't stop. She was feeling a bit powerless. So she expressed her power over a Jeep and half tank."

Auri was quite, thinking over her femme guardian's words. She hadn't realized that before, but it was true. She'd always thought Flareup smashed things because she was upset and didn't have the self-control to act mature and not smash things. Chromia had insight though. "I see."

"Yeah." That was it. "She's calmed down greatly, though. Optimus has gone to talk with her a bit to help her deal with the hard things."

"I'm glad." Optimus could do anything.

"Me, too." Chromia added. "Alright now, have we gotten you all dried off?"

"Mostly, I th-"

"Hey, Chromia!" Ironhide called, rapping on the door.

"EEK!" Auri squealed in surprise. Then she grabbed her towel around her bare form. One never knew when Ironhide might decide to barge in.

"Keep out," Chromia ordered. "What is it?"

"I wanna know when you're going to finish up in there."

"Tactful." Chromia commented to Auri, making Auri smile. "We'll be done in a little." She replied to Ironhide, "You know how long a femme takes in the shower."

"No, I don't." he answered.

"How is _that_? Haven't you noticed that takes forever when you wash with me?"

"I don't know… time stands still when I'm with you."

Chromia smiled fondly. Maybe the humans thought it was a silly line, but the way Ironhide said was so sweet that it always melted her spark.

"Well, consult your chronometer next time, silly mech." She retorted bossily, "It takes a long time."

"Y' can't fool my with that tone, Myfemme," Ironhide teased back, "I know you liked what I said."

Chromia grinned. "We'll just sit around here even when we're done, just to annoy you."

The femmes heard Ironhide chuckle.

"That will give me time to plot revenge." He warned them with a grinning tone.

Auri raised an optic-ridge expectantly at Chromia, wondering what her femme-guardian would say to that.

"What, _sir_, do think we'll be doing while we're sitting around?" Chromia shot back while grinning at Auri. Auri grinned back and snickered.

"Talking femme-talk." Ironhide said, laughing.

"Nope. Wrong. We'll be consulting each other regarding revenge on YOU, and you know two processors are better than one."

"Arrrrr…" Ironhide groaned. "Alright. You win then. See you when you finish."

"Bye-bye."

"Bye." Ironhide said. Then there was silence.

"Victory." Chromia said, chuckling.

Auri giggled and shook her head. She still didn't get her guardians, but she did enjoy them. Chromia smiled; she knew Auri would know some time.

Chromia helped Auri fit all her armoring back in place. Auri flitted her door-wings appreciatively. Then she paused. "Is any of my armor scuffed?" she asked, looking over what she could.

This question brought another smile to Chromia's lips. "None of it is scuffed." She told Auri.

"Okay." Auri tossed her towel in the hamper and looked around the shower area. It was tidy; they could go.

Chromia opened the door for her, and she went out happily. Then she screamed in fright as something very big grabbed her and swooped her up. "Eeeeeeeeee-!" Then suddenly she was set back down on the floor. She whirled around to glare at Ironhide for scaring her like that, but Ironhide had darted after Chromia, who had been warned by Auri's scream.

Ironhide caught Chromia around the waist and turn her around. "Caught yah!" He said, grinning as she shoved him with a taunting smirk. He scooped her up and put her over his shoulder to give her a love-tap.

Auri shook her head and giggled at them. After the initial scare, she had calmed down.

"AURIIII! STOP YOUR GUARDIANS!" Sunny yelled in a panic.

"They're just messing around." Auri said with an easy-going shrug.

"Yeah," Ironhide drawled, setting Chromia down. "We're not really making-out extremely." He said. Then Chromia went for his mouth with hers; she wanted to change that.

"WHOA!" Sunny yelled, turning away.

"Hey! What happened to 'Smooch-Patrol'?" Bee asked Auri.

"There were enforcement issues, and…" Auri dropped her voice to a whisper, "I think there was some bribing going on."

Bee chuckled.

"Okay, okay." Ratchet said, entering the room. "Ironhide, Chromia, that's… enough, thank-you. We don't need to _educate_ the younglings prematurely… or too much."

"Class dismissed," Ironhide said, ending the prolonged kiss and moving Chromia to his side.

"You can look now, Sunny." Auri said sweetly.

"Thanks." Sunny said flatly, getting up again.

"Alright," Ratchet said. "You younglings have gotten messy and untidy, and that needs to change before Prowl gets here in thirty minutes."

"Wake-up, Sideswipe." Sunny ordered his brother, reaching over to shake him.

"Huh…Dooo…Wha?" Sides muttered, sitting up groggily. "Wha'd I miss?" he was slightly disorientated.

"You don't wanna know. We have to clean up our area before Prowl arrives."

"Oh…"

"Okay?" Ratchet asked, looking at the four young bots. They nodded and said "yes, sir" and started moving around. Ratchet left with Ironhide and Chromia, leaving the younglings to their work.

Data-pads had to be picked up and restored to their proper places. Speaker systems had to be rearranged and the wires had to be twisted neatly. Game and puzzle pieces that had gotten scattered had to be collected and sorted then boxed.

"How did it get this messy?" Sides asked in disbelief.

"We had fun." Sunny answered.

Auri looked around. They _had _had lots of fun. Since they had been getting so much better and were healing faster at this stage, they had become much more active. She looked around again and then got back to work. Nobody was going to call her a slacker.

She was a busy little femme and devoted herself to the task at hand. She worked steadily for a while, and then she turned to find Prowl watching her.

She dropped her three data-pads in shock and opened her mouth in horror. The first training session had been four days ago, and she'd been right on time every time since then.

"You are not late." Prowl told her, coming forward and crouching to pick up the data-pads. "I am early."

"Oh," the word came out with a relieved sigh.

Prowl rose and gave her the data-pads.

"Thank-you." Auri took them. "We were just cleaning up."

Prowl nodded at the obvious.

"Um…" Auri wasn't sure what to do now.

"You still have five minutes." Prowl commented, motioning that she could go on.

"Indeed." Auri said. She moved away and resumed tidying her things.

Prowl leaned ever so slightly against a berth and took out a data-pad to peruse while he waited.

"Well, the next time you gang up on me and trick me, I WON'T be so lenient!" Ironhide's tone of voice indicated that he wasn't overly pleased.

Prowl looked up to see Ironhide stalking into the main room with Ratchet behind him and Chromia edging up to his side.

"We just wanted you to get the checkup without a big fight," Chromia told him coaxingly.

He stopped to scowl at her. "I'd rather go through a good, _**honest**_ fight than to have you being treacherous and backstabbing like some _Decepticon_."

Chromia took a step back. "I didn't know you felt like that about it," She said sounding somewhat angry, "After all, you've tricked me the same way."

Ironhide paused. "I didn't think about that." He said gruffly after a couple moments. "I'm sorry."

"It's okay," she said, reaching up to caress his jaw.

He tilted his head to kiss her hand. "How 'bout I bribe you next time?"

"Okay." She liked this. "And… I'll bribe you." She added. "Eh?" she questioned, moving closer.

"Education!" Ratchet objected.

"I'll _teach_ you a few tricks, okay?" Ironhide said to Chromia, winking at her as she stepped back.

"Sounds good!"

Ratchet groaned. And Auri did a facepalm. They were too much sometimes.

"Time." Prowl said, walking away to the work area.

Auri hurried after him.

Her rump hit the seat of her chair a second before Prowl was seated, but he looked at her with a slight frown.

"You are late." He said.

"Something unexpected came up; you'll have to excuse it." Auri replied after only a second's pause. They had been practicing how to answer complaints and such yesterday, and she'd realized that it had been a test.

"Good." Prowl said. His optics strayed to Ironhide and Chromia. Auri turned and looked as well and saw Chromia smacking Ironhide's backside playfully. She turned back to Prowl.

"Perhaps I do not need to say this, but I will just to be safe," Prowl said. "Do not introduce Agent Phillips to Ironhide and Chromia until the second or –better yet- third day. And warn her beforehand that they… are…" what was a word he could use?

"Affectionate."

"Yes… or, rather, extremely demonstrative in their affections."

"Ex-treme-ly de-mon-stra-tive." Auri repeated slowly as she wrote down the two words.

"Yes." Prowl said, watching her write. He realized that she wrote down almost everything he said in the sessions. It made him wonder if he'd made some slip-up somewhere that would get her in trouble. Well, she could point it back at him and he would take the blame.

"In their affections." Auri finished.

"And it would be better if she met them separately, but I know that that would be hard to orchestrate."

"Indeed!" Auri agreed heartily.

They went on with their training session, the ninth one that they'd had. Auri was feeling much more ready than she had been as the first session. She was quite certain about each thing that she would need to do, each activity she would need to supervise, and what roles she would need to play in order to make the Agent's study go smoothly.

She was certain on almost everything except for one thing. And she wasn't sure how to bring it up.

The session went smoothly. Prowl was pleased with Auri's progress. He was as confident in her as he could be. All her answers came back correct, and she was pretty quick to catch on to what he was doing.

"Alright," he said near the end of the session. "This has gone well. I believe we may have just one meeting tomorrow. Are you comfortable with that?"

Auri nodded, "Yes, Commander," she said. "I am."

"Good." He glanced down at his data-pad to make sure he hadn't forgotten to cover something. Unlined in bold was the reminder "**Ask her if she has any further questions!**"

"Have you any further questions?" he asked.

Auri nodded uncertainly. She did have a further question, but it was the one she wasn't sure about and thought might sound ridiculous.

"Go ahead," Prowl prompted.

"Will… will Agent Phillips be nice?" There. It was asked, sort of. What she really wanted to know was if Agent Phillips would like her. But, she suspected Prowl would think it irrelevant to their work.

"She was nice three years ago," Prowl said, "Some humans change a great deal in three years, though, so I will not make any promises. She does seem eager to return to her work here and study us more, however, and as a professional, she will do her best to get along well with her subjects of study."

That reassured Auri a little but not much. Her apprehensions regarding working with the agent were growing as she considered her responsibility. She really, really did not want to fail. If the liaison wasn't nice and didn't like her, it would make a daunting task even harder.

Prowl glanced at Ratchet. Ratchet was giving him the get-out-before-I-throw-you-out-because- my-patient-needs-her-rest look.

He looked back to Auri. His words had not seemed to be the right ones. They had been meant to encourage her, but instead she was frowning a bit more. Was she, perhaps, still concerned with the liaison's nature? "I would not offer you work with Agent Phillips if I thought it would be a bad idea." He tried again. "I think her personally will probably fit well enough with yours."

Ratchet winced. "Probably"? "Well enough"? OH, Please! Prowl! That was not the way to encourage a little femme.

Auri knew Prowl was trying to encourage her without making any promises that could get broken. He seemed positive about it, though. And she did know that he did NOT do things he thought would not work out. Did this mean he trusted her? The thought was wonderful, but what if she messed up and lost that trust?

Prowl watched her slow, thoughtful reaction. He still hadn't said the right thing.

And Ratchet was starting to edge over towards them.

::Ratchet,:: Prowl sent over the comm. to the CMO.

::Yes, Prowl?:: Ratchet said expectantly.

::I have been focusing too much on what Aurion will be doing to consider how she feels about what she will be doing.::

::You don't say? How observant you are.:: Ratchet interrupted.

::Thank-you.:: Prowl indulged in a rare bit of sarcasm then went on. ::I need to stay a little longer.::

::Stay longer, silly bot. Ratchet out.::

Ratchet moved away.

"Aurion," Prowl said, "I see that you are dedicated and eager to do well; therefore, I am fairly certain that you _will_ do well. Agent Phillips is also dedicated and eager to do well. With this mutual goal, and a mutual desire for a positive outcome, you two will naturally bond together to achieve it. There may be accidents, setbacks, or slipups on either side, but both sides will be tolerant in order that the task can keep moving forward." Prowl paused. "Does that make sense?"

Auri nodded. "Yes, it does."

"I would not give you this task-offer if I thought you would mess it up." Prowl told her. "I am giving it to you because I think you will do well with it and may even enjoy it."

These words made Auri smile. "Thank-you." She said.

"You are welcome." Prowl replied with a nod.

"What should I do, though, if I make a big mistake?"

"Remain calm." Prowl said. "That is the most important part." He paused so she could write that down then he went on, "Then intercom for help if you cannot think of a solution."

"Alright. I can do that." She was confident. "Intercom you?"

"Yes. Is there anything else you wish to ask about?"

"No, sir. That is all."

"Alright." Prowl said. "Have confidence in yourself." he told young femme as he rose, "I have confidence you."

That was a wonderful thing to hear. "Thank-you." Auri said, rising as well.

"You worked for it." He told her. "Very much so." His optics shifted towards the door as motion there caught his attention. Inferno has just come in, bringing Flareup with him. "Flareup is here." Prowl said; he spoke more to himself than to Auri. He knew the orange and red femme had been struggling with her feelings regarding the Decepticons and the accident. He hoped that seeing that Auri was fine and well would help her to calm down and find some closure.

Flareup gave Inferno a slight smile. "Thanks." She murmured to him.

He patted her shoulder gently. "Don't fret, lil' femme. Jus' go on and see your friends."

Flareup wandered away from him towards Sunny and Sides who were quietly working on a 3-D puzzle.

"Flare!" Auri called, leaving Prowl to scamper over and intercept Flareup.

"Hey," Flareup said softly, letting Auri wrap her arms around her in a warm hug.

"I missed you!" Auri told her, snuggling a little bit.

"Aw. How are you?"

"I'm fine and dandy!" Auri told her cheerfully, grinning up at the other femme as she still held on to her.

"Good." Somehow Flareup's smile didn't reach her optics; her lips turned up, but her the rest of her face seemed so sad.

"And how are you?" Auri asked gently.

"I'm…" Flareup stopped as Prowl came close. "I'm alright." She said, nudging Auri away.

Auri took a step back in confusion.

"Flare," Prowl said softly. "For what it is… for what it _may be _worth, I am sorry." He sounded both sincere and uncomfortable at the same time.

Flareup looked away.

Prowl knew it would be easier for him if he just left them. He could go, and the femmes would go on and be fine. It did not seem right, though, to just go when Flareup needed help and he could actually help. He went on. "I know it is hard." He said, "It hurts to lose and to be hurt." The caring words sounded strange to his audio-processors. They touched Flareup, though.

"GO away. You're gonna make me cry." Flareup said harshly.

Prowl flinched, but he stayed; he knew he was getting in deeper, perhaps in over his head and door-wings. He also wasn't quite sure what to do anymore, but he'd gone too far to leave off and go away. "Flare,"

Flareup struggled with her emotions but kept silent.

Prowl reached out and gently stroked Flareup's arm with his fingers.

Flareup shut her optics tightly. He was completely uncertain as to what to do now. Perhaps he should have left her alone.

"Crying isn't bad," Auri put in tentatively. She really wasn't sure what there was to cry about… "It helps wash off some of the sadness." She added after a moment. "There's a smile in the last tear."

Flareup almost laughed at the femme-ling's words, but it made her break down, and she cried instead. Prowl put an arm around her and let her cry on his shoulder. He was not comfortable with this either, but he knew Flareup needed to cry on someone's shoulder, and Auri was a little too short for it.

Sunny and Sides came over quietly.

"What's wrong?" Sides asked in a whisper.

Auri shrugged uncertainly.

"Is she upset about getting put in the brig?" Sunny whispered.

Flareup kept crying, but she shook her head.

Sunny reached over and rubbed her neck gently. "We're here for you, anytime."

Flareup begin to calm down after a little while. As her sobs diminished and her tears slowed, she began to become more aware of her surroundings. Then she hiccupped and looked up at Prowl, _Commander_ Prowl. She had been sobbing tears on the Second-in-Command's shoulder, the same Second-in-Commander who required a wide amount of personal space and hated being touched in anyway no matter how impersonal.

It was awkward. And it was funny, too, because it was awkward. Prowl was awesome. He always pushed everybody away, but when Flareup thought she wanted him the least, he was there to cry on.

It made her almost laugh. A bit of a smile broke through her tears.

"Sorry," she said with a soft laugh, pushing off of Prowl and stepping back. She started to brush her face with her hands, but Auri offered her a polishing cloth. "Thanks, sweet-spark." Flareup said, accepting it and drying her face, completely missing the surprise on Prowl's.

"I told you there was a smile in the last tear." Auri said, happy to see Flareup recovering.

"So you did." Flareup said, smiling wryly.

"What were you crying about?" Sunny asked, still mystified.

"It had to be bad if _you_ were crying about it." Sides said. "I mean, you don't cry about _anything_."

"It's okay." Flareup said.

Sunny planted his fists on his hips. "That's a lie, Flarebot, and you know it!"

"WELL, IT'S **MY** LIE, SO **I** CAN TELL IT!" Flareup yelled, losing it again.

"Take it easy." Prowl said. "Twins, do not pressure her."

"Sorry, Flare." Sunny said.

"Yeah, sorry." Sides said, "We just care about you, that's all."

"It's alright, mechs. Sorry that I yelled." Flareup looked down at her hands. "I… I'm just having a really, _really_ hard time accepting that fact that I can't do something to fix anything. I… I mean, I go, I fight Cons, but that's it. I can't stop the agony felt by so many out there. I can't stop others from getting hurt. I can't stop old memories from torturing minds. There's just _so_ much _pain_, and I can't do _anything_!

"And it just goes on hurting! On and on, and it _never_ stops. Never ends. Death, and torture, and abuse, and … things too horrible to mention… -and me? I'm powerless. I can't do anything but watch."

Auri put her arms around Flareup and held her close, resting her head against the other femme's shoulder. "You do so much by being there for your comrades and by caring for them." She whispered. "You do give everything you have, Flare. There's nothing wrong…"

"It's not enough." Flareup said, frustrated. "I hate not being strong enough to stop it!"

"Flare… nobody is strong enough to stop it." Auri said, looking up in wonder. "N… not even Optimus."

"I… I guess I know that." Flareup admitted. "I just hate accepting it. I hate being powerless!"

"Nobody likes being powerless." Prowl said quietly. "But, Flare, you do have much power. There is the moral support and the emotional support that you give by being present. And, you encourage your team-members to take up challenges they would not otherwise have dared to try. You inspire your companions by your refusal to give up after a defeat. You are remarkable, Flare, your friends see that, and it gives them strength to go on. You cannot say that that you are powerless."

Flare looked down. She knew Prowl wouldn't lie to her. Well, there was that one time when Ironhide had forced him to play "Truth or Dare"- She smiled slightly at the memory. But that aside, she knew he would not lie to her.

"Thanks, Prowl." She said softly.

"You are welcome." He answered in similar tone. "And I mean it."

This made Flareup smile.

"I know you do, Prowl. You never say stuff you don't mean."

He nodded. "Very true."

"What happened to bring this subject up anyway?" Sunny asked, hesitating a little, slightly fearful of triggering another round of tears or more yelling.

"You're a genius, aren't you." Flareup said sarcastically.

Prowl held up a hand for peace. "I believe that fact that Auri and you mechs were nearly killed by the Decepticons has been troubling her." He said, "Nothing could have been done if they _had_ gotten you, and that is particularly upsetting."

"You read minds?" Sides asked, incredulous that Prowl would actually understand whatever was going on with Flareup.

"No. I have a strong logic center as well as a few emotions myself." Prowl stated deliberately.

Nobody had a comeback to that. They stood there quietly, thinking. Prowl wondered if he's said too much.

"The thing is, though," Prowl broke the silence that he'd created, "We must recall that the worst did _not_ happen. Soundwave could have killed the whole group, yet he did not. Putting the accident into perspective, it turned out well."

"Y… say _what_?" Flareup had something to say now.

"I say it turned out far better than it could have, and that that is a good thing. Perspective logic."

Flareup huffed. "Logic."

"Logic keeps me sane." Prowl said. "Usually."

Bee chose this moment to play a sound clip from _Star Trek 2009_._ "__'Logic offers_ a _serenity__ humans seldom experience, a control of feelings so that they do not control you_.'"

"To a certain degree." Prowl said with a slight tilt of his door-wings. The twins smirked in amusement. Flareup even smiled. And she had to admit that he was right.

"Okay." Flareup said, "So it didn't turn out so bad."

"There." Prowl said, "All _is_ much better."

"Thanks." Flareup said, rubbing Auri's shoulder and smiling at Prowl.

"You are welcome." He said. "I find-" He broke off as his optics widened shock. "I am late!" He said with horror.

Sunny gasped dramatically. "Prowl LATE?"

"Yes." Prowl said, "Prowl _is_ late. Take care," he told Flareup, "See you tomorrow," he told Auri.

"Tomorrow." Auri replied as Prowl dashed out of Med-Bay. A moment later, the bots heard him activate his sirens and squeal his tires.

"Awesome way to be late." Sides said with grin.

"Yeah." Auri said, smiling thoughtfully. She knew Sides meant the burning rubber and running sirens. She meant something else, though. It was awesome to her that Prowl had taken room out of his busy day, and even neglected a meeting to show a little concern for her friend. That was one of the awesomest things a bot could do, give of himself to others. She admired that.

* * *

Don't forget to review! And check out my challenge fic, too. I'm still taking entries for the challenge fic. And I promise I'll update my Ironhide/Chromia humor/romance fic this month!


	52. Chapter 52, Out and About

Update! :D It's a bridging chapter… Lots of stuff happens to get it out of the way for the big story arc that's coming…!

Warning: Fluff! Don't drink milk or other beverages while reading this. ;)

* * *

Chapter 52

**Out and About**

"Good morning, Ratchet!" Auri sang out, tapping his arm.

"Hmmmph?" the medic slowly onlined his optics and blinked them. Oh. He'd dropped into recharge while at his desk again. That was irritating; really, he had a nice berth in a private room off the main part of Med-Bay, and he wasn't Prowl, who worked himself to sleep. He sat up. "Good morning, Auri. What are you doing up?"

"I'm hungry, sir, but I cannot reach the Energon storage." Auri answered.

Ratchet smiled as he rose. She'd returned to addressing him as 'sir' once Prowl had started working with her on everything else. Finally, there was something that Prowl did that affected him that he liked. "Come, let's see what we can find." He said, heading over to the storage unit. Auri followed obediently.

She went and sat on her berth while he got out a small Energon cube and added some nutrients to the Med-grade. He mixed it thoughtfully, reflecting on the fact that he was going to miss her when he released her. And that was going to be in a few hours.

Auri chirped like an eager sparkling when he brought the fuel over.

"There you go." Said Ratchet.

"Thank-you, mmmmm…" she kicked her feet happily as she began to sip.

Ratchet went back to his desk and began working on her release forms. She would be allowed to go home, but her physical activity would be restricted. He knew Ironhide and Chromia were protective enough of her that they would enforce the restrictions.

"Hi." Auri said at his elbow.

Ratchet turned. "Hello. Everything alright?"

She nodded. "I just wanted to be near you."

Ratchet pulled the femme-ling onto his lap and battled old feelings of anger towards the guardian who had neglected her. "I'll miss you." He told her, hugging her.

"I'm not leaving." She protested. "Even when you release me from Med-Bay, I'll still be around. _Someone_ has to clean up this desk of yours."

Ratchet chuckled. "You let my desk be."

She shook her head reprovingly at him. "Messy, messy, bot."

"Drink your Energon."

She took a sip then started talking again. "What are you working on now?"

"Your release forms."

"MINE?" she asked, delighted, "I get to leave soon?"

Ratchet nodded.

"When? When, Ratchet?" She could hardly wait. She was suddenly as squirmy as a hyper sparkling.

"Sit still. In three hours, but-" Ratchet was cut off by a squeal of delight and a hug. "BUT," He said loudly to distract her from her jubilation. She stopped. "You will have to take things easy. No swift transforming. No pushing chairs around. No running. No climbing, or swinging, or… whatever else you might do that would strain anything."

"I understand, Ratchet." She said then kissed his cheek. "I'll be a good little bot."

He knew she would be. He would just really miss her.

"Can I go back to work with Prowl?" she asked next, her optics lighting up at the prospect.

"You can do computer work, but no patrolling."

"Okay." Auri said, thinking how this would change her old schedule. It wouldn't change it too much. She could still work some. And she could see Ironhide and Chromia first thing every morning. "YAY!" she exclaimed happily. "Oh! Will Bee and the twins be released, too?"

"Bee will, but the twins will have to stay in for another few days."

"Okay. I'll have to visit them." Auri decided before returning her attention to her breakfast and planning things. The past three days Prowl had just been by once for training sessions. Today, she decided, she would appear at the office before he left to come to Med-Bay. That would be fun.

The three hours passed fairly quickly, and soon Chromia was coming through the door with Ironhide at her heels.

"You posted bail for meeeee!" Auri squealed with glee as she dashed towards her guardians.

"W-we what?" Chromia stuttered in astonishment as Auri danced happily.

"Just kidding." Auri said, hugging the femme. "I know you actually bribed him."

"Ah…" Chromia eye the little pink femme who was still bouncing on her toes. This femme-ling was going to be a handful. When had she gotten so hyper?

"We just have to sign a few forms saying that we'll keep you subdued, Miss Overactive-Imagination." Ironhide informed her with a grin. He scooped her up and held her with one arm as he scribbled on Ratchet's form-pad.

"You ready?" Ironhide asked her as Chromia signed.

Auri nodded. "I am! I already told Bee and the twins bye, and I have my data-pads with me. Oh! Ratchet," she leaned towards the medic.

Ratchet took her from Ironhide.

"Bye, Ratchet." Auri told him, hugging him. "Thank-you for looking after me SO much and so well."

"Bye." He told her gruffly. "Stay out of trouble."

She kissed him quickly on the cheek and turned back for Ironhide to take her. She would miss having the dear medic around all the time, but she could hardly wait to have Ironhide and Chromia around all the time.

OooOoOoOooO

Auri, finally back in her monochromatic paint mode, paused at the door to Prowl's office. She had to not be grinning mischievously when she entered. Really, it was unprofessional to be beaming like the happiest bot on earth.

She managed to conquer the grin, and then she pushed the door open slowly and peeked in.

Prowl glanced up as usual. "Come in. Have a seat." He said as if that was the way it had been for years.

Auri was slightly disappointed. He hadn't even been the least bit surprised! Really! She thought he was rather incorrigible at times. He didn't mean to be, though, and she knew that. She sighed.

Prowl glanced up again and didn't look back down again. "Is there a problem?"

"No, sir." Auri said, finally coming in and closing the door.

Prowl looked around to make sure everything was in order. Nothing in the office had been relocated during her absence. Why would she pause like she had then? "Is there something you were expecting…?" Prowl was making a stab in the dark, a thing he hated to do. It was always risky. Especially with Aurion, who was often unpredictable for his logical mind.

"I had thought you would be surprised to see me come in." Auri said frankly as she sat down.

"No." Prowl answered, "No, sorry. I am omniscient."

Auri's optics widened as stared at the Commander. Nobody was omniscient, all-seeing. Could he be jesting with her? Jesting…? Or was he actually omniscient? Prowl jesting or Prowl omniscient…? Both were so improbable… which one…?

A sheepish little half-smile touched Prowl's face. Then it vanished. "I am sorry; I should not joke around like that." He said, mentally kicking himself, "Ratchet sent me strict warnings about putting you to work this afternoon, so I knew that you were being released today."

"Oh." Auri said. So it had been Ratchet who had spoiled the surprise. And Prowl was not omniscient.

"Shall we pick up where we left off last time?" Prowl asked, eager to move on to a different subject and forget about his little jest.

"Yes." Auri said, readying her data-pad for note-taking.

The session went very well, from Prowl's perspective as well as from Auri's. This was quite important.

"Do you think you are ready?" Prowl asked as he put his notes away. He was well aware that the liaison was scheduled to arrive in four days. He needed Auri to be ready.

"I do not _feel_ ready." Auri admitted with a slight grimace. "But I think I probably am as ready as I will ever be."

Prowl nodded. "I certainly did not feel ready for the first liaison I dealt with, but I was well-prepared, as you are now."

"How did it turn out?" Auri asked, curious, for Prowl rarely ever talked about himself.

Prowl clasped his hands lightly and rested his lower-arms on the edge of his desk as he leaned forward. "It turned out badly." He said, watching the curiosity on her face turn to consternation. "I was excessively logical, far too cold, completely inflexible, and quite lacking in people-skills." He said, "That is why I think you will do well."

Auri considered this for a few moments before she said anything.

"Oh." That was all she could think of to say, though. It really was strange to think that something Prowl had done had turned out badly. And it was a little astonishing to think that he thought she would do well because he had done badly.

"We are rather opposite in many aspects." Prowl explained.

"You are very, very good with liaisons, though!" Auri protested, and it was true.

"I am. But…" he paused. He would never reveal that working with them was so extremely stressful that he almost hated it. However, he could just say that he hardly enjoyed it. "I _am_ good with them, but it is hardly an easy thing. It is a strain for me to chat with them and exchange niceties. People set much by that, so I do it, but I do not enjoy it. You, I have watched, and I have seen that you enjoy it, that you find it fun and interesting to chat and exchange niceties. It is a talent you have that should not be wasted."

"Really?" she'd never thought of chatting as a talent.

"Really." Prowl said.

"My chatting is a talent?" She still found it hard to believe.

Prowl paused. He was suddenly well aware that he could get himself into a whole lot of trouble if he said the wrong thing and was too encouraging. All too well he knew her propensity to chatter. He didn't want to crush it, though, for it was necessary at times. He'd be tactful. "In some instances, yes, it is a talent. In other instances, which are more common, it should be restrained."

Prowl sometimes had as much tact as a Decepticon grenade.

Auri grinned, seeing through him. "You mean, 'Do not talk _too_ much, Aurion Blaze.'"

"Yes." Prowl said with a quick nod, slightly abashed at the realization that his attempted tactfulness had turned out rather blunt. Fail.

"Understood." Auri said with a confident smile. She could do this. It would be great.

OoOOooOoOooOOoO

That evening was the most wonderful evening, so Auri thought. Ironhide and Chromia were there every moment of it. They had their Energon and sat around the table talking with each other. The atmosphere was warm and friendly, and Auri loved it. Med-Bay had been warm and friendly, too, but this somehow was better. It was home.

Ironhide put her to bed with two stories, and she laughed until she thought her vocals would break at the way he and Chromia teased each other.

"Stop!" she protested, "I'll laugh too much and break something, and the Ratchet will take me back!"

"Yeah! Stop it, Ironhide." Chromia said, thumping the mech with her fist. "There's a lot of house-work to be done tomorrow, and I don't want to be stuck doing it alone." She teased, winking at Auri.

"Hmphf! Now I know where I stand." Auri grumbled, teasing her back.

"I'll help you." Ironhide told Chromia.

"Hah! You'd completely distract me."

"I would hope so."

"Any other time, Mymechluv, but not when I'm trying to accomplish something."

"Oh, I think we could accomplish something,"

Auri chuckled drowsily. They were crazy, she knew it. They just had to be. But she loved them anyway, even if they were keeping her awake. She was getting pretty tired. Maybe she could drop a hint.

"Okay, good night." She said, snuggling against the couch some. That stopped the silly guardians. Ironhide smiled affectionately at his youngling and bent to kiss her head.

"Good-night, my little one." He told her. "Recharge well. I am glad to have you home."

"Glad to be home." Auri murmured.

He left, and Chromia knelt beside her. The accident had been so horrible, so spark-wrenching and terrifying, and Chromia had had a hard time dealing with it, but she now paused to consider the difference it had made. It had brought Auri and her closer together. Auri had learned her feelings, and Auri had begun to respond to her in a new way. It really was wonderful, but Chromia knew it probably wouldn't have happened if the accident hadn't taken place.

Something good had come from something bad.

Auri, tired thought she was, reached over and touched her femme guardian's face. "Love you," she murmured, her optics glowing softly.

"Love you, too." Chromia said, her spark feeling very full at the moment. "Recharge well, my special little femme."

"You, too." Auri whispered.

Chromia stayed by her and watched until the little femme's optics blinked off and fell shut. Then she gave her a kiss and slipped away to be with her mech.

Morning came, and Auri thought it had to be the best morning ever, matching with last night being the best evening ever. After a breakfast with her beloved guardians, she went off to visit the twins for an hour. It was a fun hour, and the twins declared themselves insanely jealous of her great freedom. She met Bee on the street and stopped to talk with him for a little bit. He was enjoying his returned freedom as well.

Then it came time for her to go to work at Prowl's office.

"Good morning, Commander." She said cheerfully, entering the quiet office.

"Good morning." Prowl said, looking up from his data-pad with some surprise.

Auri grinned. So, she had surprised him _this_ morning.

"I did not realize what time it was." Prowl said in answer to her smile, lowering his door-wings which had twitched up in surprise.

"Understood." Auri said, still quite pleased at having caused any surprise in him. Her optics twinkled happily as she went off to start work at her computer.

Prowl shook his head ever so slightly once she had turned away. He didn't understand how she could always be so easily delighted. He supposed he probably liked it, but he really didn't understand it.

Auri settled into a modification of her old routine, and time passed quickly. Days passed almost without seeming to, and time drew near when the liaison would arrive.

OoOOoOoOOoO

'The liaison is coming in two days,' Auri thought to herself one evening as she cuddled against the soft back of the couch, ready to enter recharge. Her guardians had already wished her good-night and had gone to their own recharge. She was too tired to be outwardly excited, but within her feelings there was a warm spark of anticipation that looked forward to the new challenge. 'It's going to be like an adventure!' she thought, and then she dropped into recharge.

"Auri," Ironhide's voice awoke her in the night, "MyAuri,"

"Yes…?" she murmured, bringing her optics online drowsily. Why would he be waking her at a time like this?

"There's some trouble with the Cons that my team and I have to go take care of." He said.

"Okay…" she murmured. He always told her bye before he went on missions, but waking her up seemed just a little extreme. He didn't have to have her permission, did he? Things were always confusing when she was half-asleep.

Ironhide pulled her up and hugged her tightly. "I love you." He said.

It suddenly clicked with her then. He might not come back. He always faced that risk when he went out to fight; she'd just never realized that before.

"I love you, too." She whispered.

"Good night. Sorry for waking you." He said, tucking her back under her blanket.

"Is okay…" she murmured; she was feeling stunned now. She heard him whispering his good-byes and love to Chromia, heard them embrace and kiss, and then he was gone.

And Chromia went back to their berth.

Auri sat up, tears filling her optics. She hadn't thought of losing her guardians before. She slipped off the couch and ran into where Chromia was.

The blue femme was already back in recharge. Auri stared at her in the semi-darkness. It was like Chromia didn't care. Auri shook her head. She knew Chromia cared more than anyone in the whole world if Ironhide came back or not. She just knew that fretting did nothing.

Auri felt a tear run down her cheek. She wanted to be brave like Chromia, but she couldn't help but be upset. It was scary.

Chromia stayed in recharge, and Auri stood watching her for a little bit while tears trickled down her face. Then Auri brushed the tears away and climbed onto Chromia's berth, curling up at the femme's feet. She didn't care if she got kicked; she just wanted to be nearby.

A few more tears made their ways down her face. She tried to brush them away, but they kept coming.

Chromia stirred, feeling her stress over their bond. Waking, she shifted up onto one elbow. "Auri?" she asked softly, unable to quite locate the femme-ling.

"Yeah?" the little voice came from near her feet, and its tone told her immediately that something was not right.

Chromia sat up and scooted down and took her youngling into her arms in a moment. "What's wrong, Sweet-Spark?" she asked, cradling the little femme gently. "What's troubling you?"

"I… Ironhide left."

"He leaves a whole lot, little one… what's different about this time?"

Chromia had to wait for her answer. Waiting was not one of the things she liked to do, but she knew pressuring Auri wasn't the thing to do. She held her and gently rubbed her back to calm her.

"I never realized…" Auri started but trailed off.

"Realized… what?" Chromia asked softy, fearing that she already knew the answer.

"He… might n-not come back."

"Ohhhh… Sweet-Spark." Her fear was true. For the longest time, she noticed that Auri never seemed to make the connection that Ironhide left fight and might not come back. At first it had disturbed her, made her worry that there was an emotional coldness about the youngling. Then, as she grew to know Auri better, she knew there was nothing cold about her little one. And then she was glad that Auri didn't make the connection. If the femme-ling could go on for a while not knowing how cruel and cold war was, it would be that much better for her. She could be secure for a while and learn slowly. She could feel safe, and she could work on self-development instead of having to worry about self-preservation.

It was over now. The sense of security was gone, shattered. And Auri was trembling in her arms.

She stroked Auri's head softly, searching for words, trying to figure out what would reassure her.

"It's not easy…" Chromia said slowly, quietly. "Knowing that he might not return… but, we live the best life we can together, so if something does happen, we'll have no regrets. This is why he always reminds you that you loves you before he leaves… this is why we never let the other walk away mad."

Auri seemed to still a little bit. Chromia continued to hold her and spoke other gentle words of comfort. Eventually, she got her little femme-ling to calm down, and then she had a weak but wakeful youngling in her arms.

Auri didn't have anything more to say… she seemed satisfied enough for the moment. She just didn't want to recharge. She needed recharge though, and so did Chromia.

'How… how do I get her to go back into recharge?' Chromia asked herself, not having dealt with this situation before. She pondered for a few minutes before she remembered something. Lullabies. Lullabies did the trick. But… she didn't know any. Orphans didn't learn lullabies. Her spark twisted with frustration. She didn't want to be thwarted.

She reached for her data-pad with one hand while keeping the other on Auri. Then, accessing the Cybertron Arts Library through the specialized internet the Transformers had set up, she soon found a whole database of lullabies.

'I had no idea there were this many…' Chromia marveled to herself, 'Only… now which one do I choose?'

Auri shifted a little and looked questioningly at her with tired optics.

"I'm trying to find a lullaby for you." Chromia admitted. No beating around the bush.

Auri half-smiled.

"When the stars shine bright in the heavens above," she recited softly in Cybertronian,

"When the moons glow softly, and when the polar lights dance in their colors,

"I will still be here by you, I will still be by your side… never departing from you, sweet spark…" she trailed off, too tired to finish.

Chromia searched the words, looking for the rest of the song. She found it and paused, looking at the author's information with wonder. She'd had no idea that Decepticons wrote lullabies. But then, they did have sparklings, so why not? She pushed the wonderings aside and murmured the lullaby to her own sparkling.

Lullaby worked its effect, and Auri slowly went back into recharge as she listened to the old song.

'Maybe the Cons are good for something.' Chromia mused with a drowsy smile after Auri dropped into recharge. She lay back down, keeping Auri close. Then, soon, she dropped off into recharge herself.

Ironhide found the two still cuddled together when he came back in the wee hours of the morning. He brought the lights on a little to get a better look at his femmes, and he saw the tearstains on Auri face. His spark twisted with pain. This was why he and Chromia had never made a sparkling together in all their love-making; they didn't want to leave a devastated orphan.

"Auri," Ironhide shook her gently. He knew she needed to sleep, but he could not let her sleep on without letting her know that he had returned. "Auri,"

Auri awoke from her recharge quickly. On seeing Ironhide, she jumped up and hugged him as tightly as she could.

"I w-was afraid." She cried softly.

"I know, I know," he murmured, rubbing her back gently. "I'm sorry." He stilled her fears and calmed her being with his presence. "Everybody on the team is alright, though. We got a few dings here and there, and a couple gashes, but no one got seriously injured."

"Okay." Auri sighed cuddling against him; she didn't really care about anybody else at the moment. She just needed him and Chromia. She sighed in contentment; her world was back in one piece. She stayed there against Ironhide, comforted, encouraged.

"I'm dead-tired, little one." Ironhide murmured after holding her for several minutes.

She didn't answer. Ironhide moved her a little and looked down a her. A light smile touched his lips as he realized that she'd dropped back into recharge. Poor little thing…

He carried her gently to her couch and tucked her blanket around her before slipping back to his spark-mate. He took his love in his arms and kissed her. "I'm back," he whispered.

"Mmm…" she acknowledged him without even onlining her optics, "Mine." She murmured, slipping an arm around him before going back into deep recharge.

It was good to be back. And it was nice to be in his own quarters, and not in Med-Bay, as some of the other bots were.

Prowl…

Prowl wasn't seriously injured, but he was in Med-Bay. That could make things complicated for some bots... including Auri…

Well, he could tell her in the morning. It could wait until then.

* * *

HAhahaha! That's what Ironhide thinks. *snicker* I know better… ;)

I wrote a fluff Thanksgiving piece with Prowl and Auri in it. There wasn't really anyway to fit in into these chapters, so it's a stand-alone one-shot, and you can find it among my stories on my FFN profile. I'm just mentioning it here in case somebody didn't see it. It's short and sweet! :)

And my birthday fell right after Thanksgiving Day, but I still managed to have cake even after all those pies and such. I made the cake… chocolate with butter-frosting, and an Autobot insignia on the top. I stuck a picture of it on deviantART. :)

http:/ cairistona. deviantart. com /#/ d4hggje


	53. Chapter 53, Disorientation

Look! I got an update up just one week after the last update! XD It's been a while since I've been able to do that! And I have another chapter almost ready for next week! Yes!

* * *

Chapter 53

**Disorientation **

There are some things that people expect. And there are some things that people don't expect. And then there are things that people totally were not expecting and it completely startles them.

A cell phone going off shortly after one has fallen asleep is one of those latter things.

The cell phone went off sometime around eleven PM and startled the sleeper pretty badly.

"What..?" she gasped, rolling over at the noise. The phone was flashing, "new message." She brushed her straight blonde hair out of her face with one hand, trying to see more clearly, while she reached for the phone with her other hand.

After fumbling with the phone for a couple seconds, and blinking to wake up, she got it to display the message.

"Need to skype w/ you asap." It said. She stared blankly at it. The number belonged to her superior co-worker and mentor. Right. Skype at eleven PM. She was supposed to be sleeping. Maybe eleven o'clock wasn't late for some people, but she had a serious job and had to rise early in the mornings.

She sat up, trying to wake up a little more.

"Ok. Give me ten." She texted back, shaking her head in confusion. Why would she be wanting to Skype in the middle of the night? There were time-zone issues at hand, of course, but this was extreme.

She stumbled out of bed and turned on a lamp.

"Clothes, clothes," she muttered to herself, tripping on a shoe. Never once had she seen her mentor have a bad-hair day or a bad clothes day; she wasn't about to appear on Skype in a rumpled blue night-gown and snarly hair.

The clothes on her floor didn't smell fresh, but they _looked_ clean, and that was all that was necessary for Skype. After wrestling on a dark pencil skirt, she hastily buttoned up a white collared work-shirt and belted it over the skirt.

Hitting the "on" button on her laptop and then grabbing her brush, she brushed her hair while the computer booted up, and then she dashed away to wash her face with very cold water.

She was back in a moment, panting slightly, to type in her password and sit down at the screen.

Skype let her in, and there on the home page was the green "online" circle beside phillipsm6491. She shook her head in amazement. It was like midnight, really.

"Hello." She typed in with an effort. It was hard to get her fingers to hit the right keys when they were still asleep.

"Hello. Can we do video chat?" came the reply.

She smiled wryly; she'd known that question would come; that's why she'd prepared. "Yes." She replied.

She answered when phillipsm6491 called on video chat, and a moment later she gaped at phillipsm6491 for a second. Then she snapped her mouth closed.

Phillips grinned wanly. "I saw that," she said with a soft chuckle. "Never thought you'd see me looking frazzled, huh, Amy?"

"Well, no." Amy replied sheepishly. It was extremely odd to see Mariah Phillips sitting cross-legged on a rumpled bed wearing a t-shirt and sweatpants. She realized then that Phillips had sounded a little hoarse. "Are you okay?" she asked.

Phillips shook her head. "I've caught some sort of virus, and I've been grounded. I should be over this thing within a couple weeks, what with all the drugs and marvel cures, but I can't go anywhere."

"Oh… that's too bad." Amy sympathized.

"Yeah." Phillips said, looking down at some papers in her hands.

"But," Amy said, "What about that big project that you were so excited about?" she asked, suddenly feeling anxious for her friend as her groggy brain remembered something. Phillips had been anticipating some great, exciting project that she'd been planning for some time. "Is that soon?"

Phillips nodded. "It's starts in the morning."

Amy gazed back, unsure of what words of condolence to say. She knew that the project was extremely important, even if she didn't know what it was about. "So…"

"So," Phillips said, "I am offering you the chance of a lifetime."

Amy couldn't have been more shocked if Phillips had started hopping up and down and doing the Chicken Dance. First a t-shirt and sweatpants, now this?

"Me? Take your dream project?" Amy asked, stunned.

Phillips nodded with a half-smile. "I won't be able to do it." She said, "It's either you, or nothing. And I think you can do it."

Amy couldn't think of anything to say. For one thing, she was extremely sleepy, and for another thing, she couldn't believe that she was being asked to do something so huge on such a short notice. And it was Mariah Phillips who had been looking forward to this project for a long, long time; it was Mariah's dream project, her fantasy, her love…

"If I can't go, I want you to, Amy." Mariah said gently. "I've spent the last two hours getting you security clearance and booking you a flight to the place. You've been amazing on all our projects, but you've always been on the side. Here's your chance to really spread your wings and fly. Please… please don't tell me no. I can't have the project this time, so I really, really want you to have it."

Amy looked away. Was she the only option? Mariah seemed to think so. Mariah was her friend as well as her mentor.

"Are you scared?" Mariah asked softly after a few moments.

Amy returned her eyes to the screen and grinned. "What makes you say that? I'm never scared!" she used humor to ease off some of her tension. Mariah chuckled at her; Mariah knew her too well.

"You don't have to be. They are really an awesome community and quite patient with those who stop by. And, I am certain that it's the safest place to make mistakes, even huge ones. I didn't spend the past two hours getting you flights and cleared because I was bored, Amy."

"Well…"

"You are going on this project, Amy." Mariah said doggedly before coughing and reaching for a cough-drop.

"Alright," Any said, pretending to be brave. "I'll go."

"Okay." Mariah reached for some papers. "I've got you cleared for everything. I've gotten ahold of Morgan, and he'll open up the lab so you can access the files and stuff that you'll need… which I'll send you a list of…"

"Alright." Amy said, hoping her webcam was low-resolution enough that it didn't pick up the cold sweat that was breaking out on her body.

"I'm… uh," Mariah paused to type, "I'll send you a summary of the weather report so you'll knew what to take… and…" she paused to gather her thoughts. "Oh, yeah, wear comfortable shoes. I did quite a bit of walking. And hitchhiking. Yeah… nice jeans are a plus here. Professional, but not um… rag-tag, you know."

Amy blinked. "You wore jeans?"

"Once. They were dressy jeans." Mariah grinned weakly. She knew she always looked like a stylish magazine executive.

"Okay. I'm pretty sure there are more important things that clothes to be talking about now, though." Amy said. She was nervous. Extremely nervous. Here she was, about to embark on a giant project, and all her mentor was talking about was what to wear. Mariah generally never talked about clothes. "Or do they set standards by what you wear?" Amy suddenly asked.

"Eh… not really. But I got a few comments on how inconvenient and uncomfortable some of my wardrobe items must be." Mariah smirked for a split second. "They're pretty observant beings."

"Oh. Heh." This was going to awesome. Not.

"Ah… Make sure you have a list or tally or something to keep track of all your luggage and technology… That's just one thing we always do when traveling, you know that, no point in my saying that again." Mariah shook her head at herself.

Amy smiled, feeling awkward.

"Alright." Mariah pulled herself together. "I've sent you the files I started on last time. The lab will be ready by the time you get there, so you can pick up the stuff you'll need. You have clearance for the places you need it. Your flight is scheduled. And your pick-up should be confirmed by the time you arrive. That's it, I think. We're good."

"Well, you make it sound easy." Amy commented.

Mariah chuckled. "Aw, it will go fine."

"If you say so."

"Uh…" Mariah paused. She couldn't tell Amy something yet. It was too soon. "Um… text me once you're on the private jet, alright? And we'll Skype some more."

"Alright. You bet I will."

"Okay. Good luck with packing." Mariah said. "Bye."

"Thanks. Bye."

Mariah Phillips ended her video call and sighed. It had been difficult coaxing Amy to take this project. 'J_ust wait until I tell her that it won't be humans that she'll be studying._' Mariah thought to herself, _'OH, by the way, Amy, your study subjects are alien robots._' She groaned and flopped down on her bed. '_She'll freak out. This is why I'm waiting until she's in flight to tell her… I'm horrible… very…_' she fell asleep before she could finish her thought.

OoOOoOoOOoO

The phone was ringing.

"Oh… please… I'm sick, not nowwwww…" Mariah groaned.

She rolled over and found the thing as it quit ringing.

"Ug…" she flopped back down, still holding the device. Amy would try back, and she would be ready.

She waited a couple seconds, and then the phone started ringing again. "Hello, Phillips here." She said.

"Hi," Amy's voice sounded rather tense.

"Everything going okay?" Mariah asked.

"Yeah. It's going really well. Sorry for calling when you said text. I texted a couple times but you didn't answer."

"I must have been out cold."

"Guess so. Um, I'm on the plane now. Have been for… half an hour."

"Okay… that's good. Were we going to Skype?"

"Yes." Amy sounded quite tense, come to think of it.

"Are you okay?"

"Yeah, yeah, just a little nervous." Amy replied. She wasn't going to admit that her stomach was so knotted that she thought she was going to lose her late dinner.

Mariah pulled Skype up. "I'm still in sweats… and my curly-top is even worse than before. Just warning you." She teased over the phone.

Amy chuckled weakly.

"Okay. Call me on Skype, I'm hanging up here. Bye."

"Bye." Amy said. She summoned up some fairly non-existent courage and called Mariah on Skype. "Hi." She said.

"Hi. You look excellent." Mariah said, smiling. She knew Amy needed some encouragement. It did the trick. Amy smiled and glanced down at her white top and gray skirt and jacket. She did look very professional.

"Thank-you." She said. She paused then moved on. "What else so we need to talk about?"

"We… need… to… um. That is… I need to… tell you… something about… your subjects." That was the hardest sentence she'd said in a long time. But, the next one would be harder.

Amy looked even more nervous.

"It's alright," Mariah encouraged her. "They're very friendly, nice… tolerant… unique… interesting… and well, they…" she paused to swallow. "They are … extraterrestrial."

Amy gazed at the computer screen for several long seconds.

"Ah, what kind of miracle meds are you on?" she asked.

Mariah ducked her head and smiled. "Nothing that produces anything weird. I am serious. Your subjects came to this planet from a different planet."

Amy looked like she was about to object again, but she smiled indulgently. "Okay. Did they come from Mars?"

"No. They stopped at Mars, but it was a little too uninhabitable for them." Mariah said, repeating a fact before she realized how absolutely ludicrous it sounded.

"Ah…!"

"Amy! I'm serious!"

"Okay, okay. You're serious." Amy still didn't believe her. "Ahem. So, who is my contact there?" she decided to move to a different subject.

Mariah felt a little frustrated. Amy didn't believe her and, furthermore, thought she was on hallucinogenic drugs.

"My contact?" Amy prompted. Even if Mariah was going to swear up and down that he was a little green man, she wanted to know his name.

"Your contact's name is Prowl."

"Prowl?" Amy asked. Great. Her contact was a little green man named Prowl. "Prowl… what?"

"That's all the name I've ever heard him have. Commander Prowl… is how you can address him. He's Second-in-Command."

SO, that was just extremely weird, Amy thought. "Oh….kay. Um… Second-in-Command of what?"

"Second-in-Command of the Autobots."

"Okay."

Mariah sighed. She was going to sound like a manic, but Amy would thank her later. "The Autobots are a faction of sentient robotic beings called Transformers. They're metal, and they take two forms; each Transformer has a vehicle mode and a bipedal mode. Commander Prowl has a Police car for his vehicular mode… black, gray, and white. And he has door-wings. He's got a pretty distinct look; you're not going to be mistaking anybody else for him."

Amy smiled. Her mentor and friend was drugged up and talking about beings with door-wings who turned into cars. She kept smiling and nodded. "Alright."

It would be pointless and tiring to try to get Amy to believe her. "You know what? I think I'm going to get some more sleep."

"That sounds like a fabulous idea." Amy said. "Sleep well."

"I will. Call me when you get there and get settled in. Or sooner is necessary. Don't ever hesitate to call me if you need me."

"Okay. Take care now. Bye-bye."

"Bye." Mariah said. "Safe travels." Then she ended the video call.

Amy, in the private jet, stared at the laptop screen in desolation. She'd been awake for five hours after sleeping only one hour. She felt light-headed from lack of sleep, and her stomach was terribly confused. She had tried to sleep during her lay-over at the airport, but she'd been far too anxious to even be a little drowsy. Her watch said it was nearly four o'clock in the morning, but she knew the time zones had different ideas. She had no idea which direction she was heading, however, so she couldn't recalculate the time.

It was a top secret project, anyway, so nobody had told her where she was going. She supposed she could find out the time once she landed.

Amy sighed. Then she shifted in her seat and tried to find some position conducive to sleep.

After ten minutes of shifting around, she realized that no such position existed.

She sighed again and smoothed her hair. She was just going to have to accept that fact that she wasn't going to get any sleep on this flight. After looking around at the interior of the plane, she gazed wearily at the cases that held her laptop and one of the lab's project laptops. The lab laptop had only information pertinent to this project on it.

Amy went over to the case and got the computer out, deciding that she might as well start looking over stuff since she wouldn't be able to sleep.

Returning to her seat, she opened the laptop, started it, and logged on, typing in the password. She went over to browse the documents.

Project: Autobots

Amy stared at the folder. Autobots…? That's what Mariah had been talking about.

The little green metal men existed?

"Was she serious?" Amy whispered the question in horror. With shaky fingers, she moved the cursor over and opened the folder. Her mouth opened part-way as a she saw numerous documents and several databases.

"Autobot Profiles"

Amy opened the document, her eyes widening in amazement as they took in the first page. They existed.

She blinked.

"Prowl. Second-in-Command. Alt-mode: Police car…" she breathed softly. "Oh. Wow."

She read on.

Ironhide. Weapons Specialist. Alt-Mode: GMC Topkick.

Optimus Prime. Leader. Alt-mode: Peterbilt Semi-truck.

Ratchet. Medical Officer. Alt-mode: Hummer Ambulance.

Bumblebee. Scout. Alt-mode: Chevy Camaro.

Sideswipe…

Sunstreaker…

Mirage…

Jolt…

Inferno…

Tracks…

Hound…

Amy went through the files with amazement. There were alien robots living on earth. And she was going to see them, going to study them. This was chilling.

She found some notes from one of Mariah's first days with the bots.

_Today I got to get to know Sunstreaker and Sideswipe a little better. They are trouble-makers! I left a building to go out to the car I had been issued, and the thing was nowhere to be found; it wasn't where I'd left it. I looked around a little bit, and then I asked another human, a sturdy guy in camouflage, about parking and towing. He said the car should have been fine where it was. Then he smiled a little and asked if I was a liaison. _

"_I'm here to study the Bots." I replied. _

_He grinned then. "Your car probably got relocated then." He said. _

"_Pardon me?" I asked. _

"_Some of the Bots don't exactly welcome liaisons and other business-people, and they tend to express their feelings by relocating items belonging to said liaisons and business-people. You can 'misplace' a whole lot of stuff around here if you're not careful." _

_I thanked him for his explanation and then asked how I could get the Bots to not resent me. He said, "Ma'am, if I knew, I'd tell you. I've fought at their feet and had them take bullets for me. They're the most loyal beings I've ever met, but I don't know how you make friends with 'em. It just happens." _

_That was about all he had to say. I went on and contacted Prowl to see if he knew how I could find my car. He said the car had a tracker on it and he would pick me up and take me to it. He came by in about ten minutes and drove me out to a warehouse. At the warehouse, he let me out and then transformed and went up to the door. _

_I think he had a doubtful look on his face. _

_He paused then opened the door, and I saw a car. It had been painted an awful color that was a mixture of chartreuse and bright orange, and it was hanging upside down from the ceiling, held by chains. And it was the one that had been mine. _

_Prowl stared at it for a little while, and then said flatly, "I shall have another one issued to you at once." _

_Later I found out that Sunstreaker and Sideswipe had been the culprits. They had also removed my laptop from the truck and stuck stickers all over it. And that apparently hadn't contented them because they remotely hacked my cell-phone and changed the ring-tones on it and set alarms to go off at various times–that ended up being rather embarrassing-. _

_I wonder if most Autobot twins have such mischievous tendencies… Sunstreaker and Sideswipe are the only ones here though. I must remember that I'm fortunate that I do have a set of twins to study, even if they are a pain. _

This wasn't overly encouraging. Amy bit her lip and scanned through several more pages.

…_Prowl seems to be the most workaholic Bot on the base. He's always doing something on his tablet –data-pad it's called- and it's always work-related. He's never hanging around, never lazing. He also seems to be something of a perfectionist. Always on time. Always polished. Always ready. Always has the answer. It's quite remarkable… and borderline unnerving. He's the most like a machine of all the Bots. This is NOT to say they are like machines. They behave much like humans do. Only they're made of metal and are much bigger. _

Amy scrolled over a few pages, not reading. Her head ached. In all, she didn't feel overly well, and she was extremely grateful that the flight was smooth. Any turbulence at all would make her lose the contents of her stomach.

The first thing she wanted to do when she landed was to go take a warm shower, and then she would climb into the bed, curl up in fetal position and sleep until thirty minutes before her meeting. Closing her eyes, she imagined a small apartment with a fluffy mattress and a down pillow. She envisioned various nice things, and slowly her tense body started to relax.

"We are preparing to descend," the voice on the speaker jolted her out of her brief nod. "Please turn off all electrical devices and return luggage into storage positions and fasten your seatbelt."

Amy sighed and moved to do as requested. Then she yawned as she buckled her seatbelt, and she sincerely hoped that the next plane would be as comfortable and that she could sleep on it.

It would be the last plane, the plane that would take her to the mysterious location where living robots roamed the land.

* * *

Mwahahaha! Aren't I dreadful? Auri thinks she's going to meet Mariah Phillips, and Amy Sora thinks _she_'s going to meet Prowl. Nnnnnot so! :D

So, no Bots actually in this chapter… You can check out my one-shot "Thankful" if you want another bit of Auri and Prowl fluff, though.

And I have my "Sticky Situation" fic in progress, coming along nicely with more frequent updates. Ironhide's troubles... he transformed with several bags of candy in his cab... disaster. And the gum won't come off. It's humorous, but it's a bit romantic, too… Chromia. Eleven chapters and counting.

Until next week, my dear readers! :)


	54. Chapter 54, Service and Duty

UPDATE! XD I've just got four more final exams, and then it's winter break! –Which means I can write fic instead of doing homework! XD

Wow, you folks! This fic has almost 300 reviews and a little over 80 faves! Sweet awesomeness! _**Thank-you!**_ It makes my day! **:D**

Reviewer Mercedes Wolfcry has come up with a warning for my fic: _WARNING, DO NOT EAT, DRINK, BREATHE, OR PHOTOSYNTHESIZE WHILE READING, FOR YOU MAY CHOKE AND ULTIMATELY DIE AND MISS THE NEXT CHAPTERS! _

* * *

Chapter 54

**Service and Duty**

Auri awoke nice and early. Being up in the night, upset about Ironhide, had not hurt her recharge system much, and she felt quite ready for the new day.

'Tomorrow the sociologist comes!' she exulted silently, 'It's going to be the most exciting thing yet!'

Auri took an Energon cube from the low table that Ironhide had put in the corner. Auri's body was mostly healed, but Ironhide still didn't want her straining herself by climbing things to get her breakfast. Auri sipped her Energon and planned her day. She was going to go to play around on the challenge course a little this morning –Ratchet had finally given permission- and then she was going to take a quick shower. After that, she'd go to Prowl's office early to give him some extra help and ask him some more questions. She'd come up with quite a few more questions. Considering how many things she'd asked that poor mech in the past couple days, it was good thing that he was a patient Bot.

Auri decided she'd go see the poor twins again after her office work. Those poor mechs were so close to leaving Med-Bay that it about drove them mad to have to stay in. They were contemptuous of her when she talked about her liaison coming, but she was pretty sure they were just jealous and didn't take it personally.

Auri finished her Energon and put the empty cube away then went and peeked in on Ironhide and Chromia. They were snuggled up close to each other, still in recharge. Auri could tell that Ironhide was in a much deeper charge than Chromia was. It would be nearly impossible to wake him. She went over and pinched Chromia's foot.

Chromia kicked a little.

"Chromia," Auri whispered.

"Eh… wha..?" her femme guardian murmured.

"I'm going out to challenge course, then to the shower, then to work. And after work I'm going to see the twins."

"M...'Kay…"

Auri paused. "Did you get all that?"

"Uh… huh… you… uh… 'll be out all morning…"

Auri smirked. Guardians didn't pick up much when they were mostly asleep. It wouldn't do any good to try repeating herself, she knew. And it probably wasn't necessary. "Yes. I'm going to be out all morning." She went out. Her guardians knew how to get ahold of her if they needed to.

Auri drove out to the challenge course, the early sun catching the little bit of chrome on her as she went. It was a good day for a mock battle.

The ugly, evil Decepticons were waiting, two-hundred of the at least, but she wasn't scared. She roared at them and swung out her pistols, powering the weapons up.

"Prepare to be blasted into scrap, you pit-spawned toaster-ovens!" She yelled. This made the Cons mad and half of them charged while the other half ran away to hide like the cowards they were.

Fifty Cons fell quickly, no match for her great shooting skill. The other fifty started to back away. She offered to let them surrender, but they chose to run away like little sparklings and thirty of them got shot.

The other hundred started to scatter.

"I chase you down! I'll hunt you down!" she threatened, running after them. "You will be no match for the gr- ah-!" she slipped at the top of the hill slid down the muddy bank. She stopped at the bottom and rolled over.

Auri picked herself up with a grimace.

"Eewwww…" so much for only taking a quick shower. With all this mud on her now, she'd have to give herself a thorough washing. "Oh…"

The backup came and finished off the Cons, and she was free to go.

She trudged up the hill, hoping she wouldn't feel any pains. If she felt any pains, she'd have to go to Ratchet, and he'd chide her for being careless, and then he'd confine her for a while, perhaps even getting Ironhide to ground her.

She'd never been grounded before. And she didn't want to start.

Ironhide probably wasn't much into grounding, anyway.

And she didn't feel any pains, so she was fine.

She took back routes to the bathhouse to avoid being seen all muddied up. It wasn't that she minded being seen muddy; she just didn't really want to have to give answers this morning. She was eager to hurry up with her shower and get to Prowl's office early before he got too busy with many things. The sooner the better!

She made it to the bathhouse unhindered and slipped into the femmes' side. The entry-way was empty, but she heard a shower running in the showers part. Maybe Flareup was back! Flareup had left on a mission several days ago. That femme couldn't stay in one place for long. Auri did wonder if her surrogate sister would ever settle down.

Expecting to see Flareup, Auri went in eagerly, but she stopped short when she saw Elita sitting on the floor partway doubled over.

"Oh! Elita," Auri exclaimed softly. She quickly moved to go closer, but she hesitated and stayed back when she saw fuel-Energon on the flooring. "What's wrong?" she asked,

"Bad reaction to some medication…" Elita choked out, wincing.

"Not contagious…" Auri realized softly. She went over and crouched near Elita. "Do you need me to do something for you?" she asked, quite concerned, as she put a hand lightly on the Femme Commander's shoulder.

"No, I'll be fine in a little bit," Elita managed to look up enough to meet Auri's optics and smile faintly. "Thank-you."

Auri nodded. "Anything for you." It was one of Ironhide's lines that she'd picked up.

Elita summoned up another smile to convince the young femme that it was alright.

Auri rose and went over to another shower. She picked up her cube of soap and looked it over thoughtfully. Then she looked back at Elita. This wasn't right. Replacing the cube on its shelf, she went back to the Femme Commander.

"I think you need Ratchet." Auri stated.

Elita's head snapped up in surprise; she'd not noticed Auri's approach. She grimaced at the swift movement. "No, Auri… it's… just a tank upset… my system didn't like the meds and rejected them. That's…" she was cut off as she started to gag. More fuel-Energon hit the floor. "All…" she wiped her mouth on the back of her hand.

"You're very sick, commander." Auri said, frowning, getting worried. "You need to be taken care of. I'm going to intercom Ratchet."

"NO! No, Auri, don't. Some of the Bots that went out last night are in more serious condition. They need his care far more than I do with this little tank-upset."

Auri frowned with indecision.

"Please, Auri, promise you won't bother ol' Ratchet with this little upset?" the femme commander asked beseechingly.

"Well…" Auri supposed she should do as the high-ranking femme asked. "Alright." She said reluctantly, "I won't intercom Ratchet…" She didn't like it one bit, though.

"Thanks…" Elita whispered as she clutched her midsection and doubled over in pain.

"What can I do myself?"

"Nothing… it will pass in time- oh-!"

::Aurion-Blaze to Optimus Prime:: Auri sent on a private intercom as Elita gasped in pain. Elita probably wouldn't like this, but she was going to do it.

::Prime here. Good morning, Little One. What can I do for you?:: The Autobot leader replied cheerfully enough, but he seemed tired.

::It's not so much for me as for Elita. She's quite sick here in the bathhouse… she says it's a system rejection of medication.::

::I will be there in seven minutes.:: Prime replied quickly. Auri could almost feel the Prime wince in agony at thought of his mate being in pain.

::Thank-you. Auri out.::

She closed the com-line.

Elita was trying not to cry softly now.

Auri crouched down rubbed her shoulder gently. "I called Prime," she ventured.

"Ohhhh…" it seemed to make Elita feel worse rather than better.

"He'll look after you and make you feel better." Auri told her encouragingly.

"He has a meeting…"

"He left it. He's coming."

"I told you-"

"You told me not to bother _Ratchet_!" Auri snapped, getting defensive. Knowing that she could get in trouble with Elita made her edgy.

"Prime's more important and busy than Ratch-"

"So he is, but he's also your spark-mate." Auri said more gently as she sat down beside the sick femme and rubbed her shoulder. "Spark-mates look after each other."

Elita didn't reply but pressed her arm tighter against her midriff. She didn't want Optimus to see her. She was sick and miserable from the reaction to Ratchet's medicine, and she was covered in mud, too; she knew it wasn't attractive. She didn't mind too much if another femme saw her unbecoming, but she always wanted to be beautiful to Optimus. She knew it was vain and silly, but she was feeling to unwell to think reasonably. She also didn't want to be a bother when he was in a meeting.

She winced when a gentle knock sounded on the door.

Auri rose.

"Auri," Elita whispered, "Send him away; I'm going to be fine."

Auri hesitated. This was the Femme Commander here, giving an order. She was supposed to follow orders at all times unless they endangered lives.

Optimus knocked on the door again. "Auri?" he called questioningly.

"Yes, sir…?"

"May I come in?"

"No!" Elita whispered sharply.

"Elita says no!" Auri yelped desperately. Elita glared at her.

"Are Elita and you the only femmes in there, and are you decent?" He asked. He was anxious to get to Elita, but he couldn't risk casing an incident with femmes in a bathhouse.

"Only Elita and me," Auri said apprehensively as Elita tried to give her another dirty look. "We're decent." She answered, wincing at the thought of not being decent.

Optimus went in without hesitation then, crossing the area quickly once he saw Elita.

"Oh, my femme," he said softly as he knelt beside her. Auri moved away a little bit to give them privacy, but she still watched, concerned for her friend and commander. "My Elita…" he murmured in pain. He put a hand on her shoulder and resisted the urge to take her into his arms; the motion would only make her feel worse and he didn't want that. "We need to take you to Ratchet." He told her softly.

"It's just a little upset…" Elita protested in a soft growl.

Optimus leaned over her. "No lies," he whispered, "I've seen you sick before, and this is serious." He paused as he felt her spark pushing his away, "Why are you fighting me?"

Elita shut her optics.

Optimus sighed and sat down beside her. "Why are you fighting?" he asked, caressing her neck where she loved it.

"I'm s-sick," she cried softly. "It's not pretty!"

Optimus paused, surprised. Did she think he loved her just for looks? He knew that she knew better than that. She probably just needed him to remind her of it.

Optimus went back to caressing her neck. "Elita… no matter how you look, you are the prettiest thing in the universe to me; there's nothing that can compare with you." He paused to let the words sink in, then he added, "You're my femme, and I know your spark, and I love you, love you entirely, and love you unconditionally."

It was always wonderful to him say that he loved her, but for him to say it when she was sick and for him to say it so poetically was marvelous. His words warmed her spark and soothed her frustration. She almost felt better. She stopped fighting him.

He leaned over and kissed her.

"And I will do anything for you." He added.

"Mm…" she moaned softly. It was dreadful to be sick and unable to fully respond to a loving spark-mate.

"Now, like it or not," he was gentle and loving, but wasn't going to let her argue, "I am taking you to Ratchet."

He paused as he felt her feelings.

"Do you want to wash first?" he asked,

Elita nodded.

"Alright." He said. He looked up at Auri; the little femme was still standing there watching anxiously. "Will you get me her soap and washcloth, please?" he asked.

Auri nodded and quickly left to get the items.

Optimus turned back to his femme, "Alright, My 'Lita, we need to get you up so you can go under a shower."

Elita didn't seem too enthusiastic about that.

"C'm on," He rose and gently helped her up, holding the muddy femme close to support her. Slow steps were taken to bring them under the warm running water. "Feels better, doesn't it," Optimus commented, feeling his femme relax a little.

She nodded. It did feel good. And it felt good to have him holding her, too. She knew she'd been silly to think he went on looks. He was greater than that.

Auri was there, standing nearby, still looking concerned as she held the soap and cloth.

"Thank-you," Optimus said to the little femme as he took the soap from her. Then he realized that he didn't have enough hands to hold Elita _and_ hold a cloth _and _pour soap onto it all at the same time.

Auri saw the Prime's dilemma the moment he paused, and a tiny smile slipped onto her face as he held the cube out for her to take back. She took it, and then he held out his hand for the washcloth. She spread the cloth over his hand and poured some of the soap onto it for him.

He mouthed a "thank-you" to her as he moved to scrub Elita's shoulder. "It appears you have a personal slave _and_ a hand-maiden." He teased Elita gently.

She didn't laugh aloud or chuckle, but she let him know over their bond that she was amused by that and appreciated the little bit of levity.

Auri felt rather odd standing there with a cube of soap in her hand while Prime washed Elita. It was actually slightly awkward once she thought of it, and then she couldn't stop thinking about it. It was odd and awkward.

She poured a little more soap on the cloth when Prime held it out to her again, and then she was left to stand there feeling odd some more. '_I'm here… standing here… helping… but feeling awkward… awkward is a strange word, anyway. It has two double-u's in it, and they're on either side of a K, which is not an overly common letter. I guess J may be less common… Prowl would hate this line of thought. "Trivial" I believe he would call it. Um… what shall I do…?_'

Prime needed some more soap, so she took care of that. She looked down at Elita's feet. Prime would have a hard time washing her feet and holding her up. That's what Auri could do. She scampered off and got another washcloth; then she knelt at Elita's feet and began to wash them.

She thought little of it, but her action warmed Elita's spark and made Optimus smile. Too, it let Elita know that she was forgiven for glaring at the little femme for calling Prime on her.

Auri washed up Elita's legs, and Optimus washed the rest, holding out his washcloth now and then for Auri to add soap to.

"All done," Optimus said presently, handing the cloth to Auri. She went and put the cloths away, and Optimus began helping his femme rinse off. "Thank-you, Auri," Optimus told the little femme when she came back.

"You're welcome." She answered, dipping her head a little.

"I think we have it taken care of now." He told her.

"Alright."

She wandered off, wondering what to do with herself while she waited. The tiles at the top of the ceiling were a little interesting… Each tile was eight inches wide… how long and how wide was the room? If she knew that, she could calculate how many tiles there were. That was trivial, too, but what else could be done while one waited for Optimus Prime to leave the femme's showering area?

"Auri," Optimus said.

"Yes, sir?"

"I apologize for the inconvenience,"

"Oh, it's alright, sir. I'm not bothered; I'm not on a set schedule yet."

Optimus smiled at the sweet answer, but he'd been intending to say something else before she'd answered. "Well, if you wish to shower in here, you can go in that corner over there, and I will keep my back to you."

"Oh…" she realized she had interrupted him back there. "Okay." She said, "I think I will do that." She answered after a pause, for she did wish to get to the office before too long.

"Alright." Optimus turned, and Auri went off to wash.

She kept a paranoid watch on the mech as she scrubbed, but she knew he had optics only for Elita, and he would never even consider glancing at another femme in the wash. She felt less paranoid after a little while but still watched the Prime. She loved how tender and gentle he was with his femme.

Presently Optimus picked Elita up and carried her off to the entry way to dry, and Auri was left to wash in complete privacy.

She was thirty or so minutes later than her intended plan, but that didn't bother her. She had plenty of time, and Prowl wasn't expecting her until much later. Well, actually, he probably would be expecting that she would come in early, but he wasn't requiring her to come in early, and they'd not discussed it.

Finishing up her own shower, Auri went and dried off and went on to the office. And she practically ran into the door went it didn't open.

"Oof!" she grunted in surprise. "Oh, hello; it's locked."

She paused, puzzled, then knocked on the door.

No answer.

She focused, and then she could tell that nobody was in the office. This was even more puzzling, but she had the key-code and, unlocking the door, she slipped in.

It was eerie with the lights off. Quickly she brought the lights on. And it was still eerie. It was very eerie without Prowl there.

Where was Prowl?

She crept over to his desk to see if he'd left a note or something, or if somebody had left some clue.

There was no note.

There was no clue.

Auri hugged herself and looked around.

Why wasn't he there?

Had the twins abducted him to prank her?

No, this wasn't possible because they were still in Med-Bay.

She didn't like it that he wasn't there. She was going to leave. She was going to leave quickly, and she wasn't going to come back until he was there.

Starting for the door, she suddenly had second thoughts. What if someone needed to call at the office and no one was there?

She slowed to a stop. It was her duty to stay.

Her door-wings lowered unhappily, and she looked around. She didn't want to stay. It was spooky there all alone.

Prowl would want her to stay, probably. After all, it was her duty, and Prowl wanted bots to be dutiful.

With an unwilling shuffle, she went over to the Commander's desk. She climbed onto his chair. It was quiet and creepy in the office, and she felt vulnerable. She pulled her feet up and hugged her knees.

She hoped he would come soon.

She hunched her wings up a little.

She hoped he would come soon even if he did reprimand her for putting her feet on his chair. She rubbed her heel on it a little bit for spite.

Spinning the chair would increase the likelihood of him showing up, but she didn't feel like exerting that energy. And she didn't want to overload her balancers again and end up falling on the floor like a dizzy sparkling.

He's been rather unsympathetic about that the one time that it had happened.

She missed him.

She wanted him to come soon.

The phone rang loudly, very suddenly, and startled her, making her jump.

She snatched up the handset. "C'mmander Prowl's office Auri-Blaze here may I be of service?"

"Auri!" it was one of the Aerialbots, "Wow, I'm glad you're in the office! I've been trying to get ahold of your for the last eighteen minutes! Look, that she-liaison is here,"

"What?" Auri exclaimed, shocked, "She's not due until tomorrow!"

"Well… she's here now. She's a day early. And she is not happy."

"Oh-no!"

"Yeah, I know."

"I… I don't know what to do… um…" she frantically began searching her processors for a solution.

"Just come get her and drop her off at her apartment for starters." The Aerialbot suggested. "I mean, I would, but there just some things jets can't do, and drive down the road is one of them."

Auri frowned in distress. She didn't know which apartment the liaison was supposed to be staying in; Prowl was supposed to pick the liaison up. "I… Prowl… Prowl's supposed to…"

"Well, he can't very well pick up liaisons while he's in Med-Bay, can he?" The Aerialbot was getting terse.

Auri gasped. Prowl-? Med-Bay-?

"I'm sorry," the Aerialbot said more kindly, "Sorry for snapping. Look, the airline was on a tight schedule, and they needed to lose this woman fast and get onto their next assignment. Just come get her and leave her in the coffee shop until you can get instructions, alright?" he suggested gently.

"Alright," the gentle tone worked well with the now uptight femme-ling. "I'll be there as soon as I can."

"That's great! Thank-you a lot. Bye."

"Bye." Auri said then hung up the phone.

PROWL WAS IN MED-BAY! And nobody had told her! Was he terribly hurt?

No, Ironhide had said that the only injuries had been minor ones, but still…!

Prowl was in Med-Bay!

The liaison was a day early.

She had no idea where the liaison was supposed to go.

She was going to have to face the liaison completely alone.

She repressed the urge to start crying, and she headed out the door, banging it closed behind her in agitation without meaning too.

The Aerialbot had said eighteen minutes? This meant the liaison must have been waiting for at least eighteen minutes. Or more.

Liaisons didn't like waiting! Not even nice liaisons. She was failing Prowl already.

Auri whimpered a little as she transformed.

Then she shot away in car mode with her emergency lights flashing. She was going to get there as soon as possible. And she just hoped it would be alright, for she didn't know _what_ she was going to do when she got there.


	55. Chapter 55, The Energon Vampire

HI!

_I meant to update on Monday but Decepticons took over my computer and I couldn't use it whatsoever!_

...uh, okay, so skip the part about the Decepticons, but the part about my computer not working is true. It had a virus, and then it kept coming back even after I ran Malwarebytes and "got rid of it." And then it wouldn't start up when I turned it on. *sigh* My dear uncle fixed it for me, though.

So, it's a little late, but here's the update! XD Hope you like it greatly! ;)

And Jacqueline Walker was the 300th reviewer! :) Awesome, my friend! :)

* * *

Chapter 55

**The Energon Vampire**

The small Audi sped down the street with her lights flashing, occasionally letting the siren rip as necessary.

A tank halted its slow progress down the road so that she could safely swerve around it without having to calculate speed reductions. Her tires squealed on the pavement a little, leaving a dark mark behind as she went on. She knew she couldn't help being late, but she could at least decrease the time that the liaison had to wait by a few minutes if she hurried. She hoped Agent Phillips wouldn't be too mad…

OoOOoOoOOoO

Amy Sora paced a little. All the fright and apprehension that she'd had at the beginning of the trip had only grown since her landing. She was scared. Where was Prowl? She was all alone, completely abandoned on the airstrip. Was Prowl going to take all day? It was getting hot here on near the airstrip. The black pavement seemed to soak up the sun's light and release it as heat. Things in the distance shimmered even though the day wasn't all that hot. It was frightening to be all alone on an airstrip that was starting to bake. And she was starting to get very thirsty.

She glanced back at her three cases. She had opted to take her two computers and her carry-on with her and let the airline handle her suitcases. She hoped they weren't getting lost. Mariah had written about the Autobots purposely losing people's things.

It was uncomfortably hot out here.

Amy eyed the nearest hanger. There would be shade on the other side of it. Was the walk worth the shade? Would Prowl still find her on the other side?

How long until he came, anyway? It was eerie out here all alone.

She pulled out her smartphone to check the time and stiffened as the screen showed many of the usually bright icons in dull, fuzzy tones. She tapped at it, but they didn't respond. She tried one of the icons that was still clear, and it worked.

'Why is my phone not working?' she thought, starting to get even more uptight. No phone meant no connection to anyone who might be able to help her.

She was alone, on a strange mission, no sleep, hasty preparations, standing in rising heat, completely disconnected from everything usual, and her phone wasn't working. And she hadn't had anything to eat for many hours except for the over-salty airplane pretzels. She really wished she hadn't eaten those pretzels. They weren't helping the unrest in her middle.

She stuffed the phone back into her small purse with some agitation.

'Get here already!' she cried silently, looking around for anything alive.

The Autobots had a mischievous streak; that was plain from reading Mariah's notes.

And if they didn't really want her around, why, they could simply make a fool of her and leave her standing there until some authority came and made her leave.

She had already been uneasy about dealing with big alien robots, but now? She was petrified. Prowl was taking far too long. He had to be messing with her.

There were no humans in sight. There were some jets at the far end, but she couldn't see any human movement.

It was getting sweltering now.

The robots were just doing what? Where were they, anyway? They had to be hiding somewhere, scorning her predicament.

Mariah had noted that they had some strange senses of humor; this could be a joke. It was a cruel and mean one if it was. She'd always hated cruel jokes; she remembered horrible ones that had been played on her, and they had always hurt. The memories still hurt.

Amy stood by her three cases and let herself get worked up. She was scared and starting to get angry, and it was only increasing as the temperature increased.

She felt some sweat start gather on her forehead. That was it; she'd had enough. She grabbed her cases and started towards the other side of the building. She didn't care if Prowl had to look for her. She wasn't going to stand in the sun anymore. The case strap was uncomfortable, and the building was long; the strap started to chaff, and it hurt.

This was a bad day.

OoOoOoOoOoO

Auri screeched to a halt beside the Aerialbot.

"Where-?" she asked quickly as she prepared to take off again.

"Far end, near hanger thirty-nine." He replied.

"Thanks-!" Auri shot off, burning rubber as she went. She floored it and tore down the airstrip like it was the racetrack.

She had all her words planned out perfectly; she knew exactly what she was going to say Agent Phillips.

She started to slow as she neared hanger thirty-eight. There was no human in sight. Uh-oh. Where was her poor agent? Had she wandered off? Surely Agent Phillips knew not to wander off! The human could get lost, and this wasn't a good place to get lost! Concern for her liaison built up in Auri.

Auri turn a sharp left turn around the corner of hanger thirty-nine, hoping Agent Phillips was only on the other side and not far away getting lost. The humans were dear things, but they had no internal GPS's and bad things tended to happen when they got themselves lost...!

Nobody was on that side. Auri kept going, though; she would check all sides of the building before starting a full search. She sped up anxiously without meaning to.

She swerved around the next corner, making another tight left turn. Then she slammed on her brakes and swerved hard to the right.

"WHOA!" Amy roared.

"I'm so sorry!" Auri cried out, horrified, grazing her fender on a utility pole as she halted. The worst thing an Autobot could do was run over or run into a person. And she had almost done it. The grazed fender hurt.

"Why don't you watch where you're going!" Amy demanded, thoroughly shook up and furious at the same time. She vaguely realized that she was addressing a Transformer, but her anger was greater than the occasion.

"I was!" Auri exclaimed; her feelings were a bit hurt by the human's harsh answer.

"THEN WHY WAS I NEARLY RUN OVER?" Amy yelled, so scared that she was trembling.

Auri stiffened. This was a bad mannered person. If you apologized, they were supposed to forgive you, and you would do the same thing in their place. Nobody was supposed to yell and condemn after an apology.

Auri turned around and swiftly transformed, planting her fists on her hips as she finalized the transformation.

Amy stumbled backwards but maintained her balance. The thing was tall!

And it was black, gray, and white, Amy realized as she stared up at it.

It had door-wings.

And it had a pretty distinct look.

Prowl…? She'd been expecting Prowl to be male, but at Prowl was here.

"Part of our mission is to peacefully to coexist with humans on this planet." 'Prowl' said sternly, "I was going too fast; I was wrong. I apologized for it! You ought to be gracious and accept my apology!"

Amy bristled. Prowl had nearly run her down and was now lecturing her on manners? "I think you need to get a little better acquainted with our customs if you actually think saying 'I'm sorry' is going to fix nearly running somebody over, _Commander_."

Auri's optics widened with horror at the word 'Commander.' This person thought she was Prowl!

"Furthermore," the person went on hotly, "I have been waiting for you for well over half-an-hour."

Auri's door-wings twitched up in shock. This was her long-expected liaison! This was going all, all wrong. And she'd completely forgotten the words she'd planned for the first meeting.

And her liaison thought she was Prowl! Prowl was hurt and lying in Med-Bay. His inter-com was probably offline, too.

Auri felt tears welling up in her optics. This was a horrible situation. She needed Prowl…! And she couldn't contact him…!

"Commander Prowl!" the agent snapped. She was clearly very mad and getting madder. "Am I being ignored?" She demanded to know.

"N-no." Auri stuttered. "I…"Auri suddenly realized that this woman had to be an Energon vampire, a mean one.

The Energon vampire hitched the slipping carry-case strap back up with a scowl.

"I… I am not Commander Prowl." Auri said, managing to sound reasonably calm. "The Commander has trained me to be your handler for this visit. I am not sure where the communication was lost, but it is the case." Auri sternly willed ordered herself to not cry and forced herself to go on. "I h-hope we will be able to overcome our d-differences and work w-well together, Agent Phillips."

The Energon vampire looked like someone had just thrown cold water in her face and like she was going to devour them for insulting her.

"The name is Agent Amy Sora!" She snapped. Of all the nerve this –not-Prowl Bot- calling her Phillips!

"Oh!" Auri was ready for Prowl to take over. Only he wasn't there. "I… I guess there w-was more than one c-communication lost…" she said uncertainly.

"Has nothing been prepared for?" Sora demanded. She was terrified and didn't want to show it. She hated not knowing what was going on. It was frightening.

"Much has b-been prepared f-for." Auri replied, her optics making a swift scan for any other Cybertronians. None were anywhere near. No one was around to rescue her from this angry being.

"Like what?" the Energon vampire demanded, and it was a condemning tone.

The data-pad wasn't working. Auri couldn't get any information from the pad. She had no idea where she was supposed to take the Energon vampire.

"M-meetings. Interv-view successions -ah-sessions." Auri stumbled on her words. "W-we have an apartment for you, but… I…" Prowl had told her to avoid saying 'I can't' unless there was nothing else she could say. "I… find that my d-data-pad has failed and the information is not available."

"Oh. Well, that's nice." The sarcasm stung the femme-ling.

"I can t-take you to the coffee shop while I r-retrieve a functional data-pad," Auri offered.

"I think not. You're not leaving me anywhere." The Energon vampire ordered.

Auri lowered her optics. She couldn't think of an answer. Feeling rather beaten, she dropped down and transformed back into car-mode and opened the truck and the passenger door.

The Energon vampire stalked forward and set the carry-on in the trunk compartment. Auri snapped it closed for her when she stepped back.

Then the Energon vampire got in, still holding her two laptop cases. Auri closed her door carefully, knowing she would be scrap-metal if she caught anything in the door.

Auri waited until the Energon vampire had buckled her seat-belt, and the she moved forward.

Auri drove quickly but carefully. She wanted to get her data-pad as soon as possible, but she dared not drive badly with this Energon vampire. It was not happy, and not-happy beings tended to be mean and dangerous. -Especially when they were Energon vampires. Auri worried that she could get in trouble if she got a bad report.

She hated the thought of it. Prowl would be so disappointed! She worked hard to not whimper, but she couldn't help but whimper softly. She kept it below the sound of her engine, though, and mastered herself in a couple moments.

She headed to her quarters. She knew she had two good, working data-pads there. And then she could drop this Energon vampire off at her apartment and be safe from her verbal stabs and looks. At least it was being quiet for now.

Amy Sora, for her part, wanted to be anywhere but where she was. She wondered if the Autobot could hear her heartbeat. It was beating so hard that it felt like she'd been running. She had a horrible headache. She knew she'd been mean. And she regretted and hated it. It wasn't who she was, that vicious person who had verbally slammed another being. It had happened because she'd been scared and caught off guard. She was still scared, but she was sorry now.

She bit her lip. She needed to say something to start making things better. To say "I was mean; I'm sorry," wouldn't be nearly enough, but it would be a start.

She needed to say it soon, too, before her first words festered and made the Autobot bitter and resentful of her. Or it might be too late. She was scared to speak now.

"These are my quarters." The Bot said stiffly as she came to a halt. "I need to transform and go in to get my functional data-pad." She informed the human coldly.

Sora opened her mouth to speak, but the words caught in her throat as fears started swooping back and intensifying at the Autobot's tone of voice. It was clear that the giant being was grimly upset. She got out in silence when the Bot opened the door, taking her laptop cases with her. The Bot transformed and tapped in the key code, causing the door to slide back like something from Star Trek.

The sic-fi sliding door was enough to startle Sora, but it huge, as well, disturbingly large. Far larger than it needed to be for this size of robot. Were there bigger ones...?

The Bot went in, and Agent Sora took several running steps to follow the femme into the quarters. She was afraid the Autobot wanted to lose her and leave her outside. She didn't want that. The Bot might not ever come out and just leave her there. She knew she deserved it, but she didn't want it.

Sora felt instantly dwarfed by the size of the furniture, what little there was of it. The couch was huge… There had to be bigger robots.

There were.

They made the first one look like a child. They were massive! They stunning! And they were… making out?

Sora blinked twice.

The big, hulking black Autobot was standing at the table, and the slender sliver and blue Autobot was sitting on the table. The one on the table had her legs around the black one's waist, and their arms were entwined around each other's torsos, their hands gently rubbing as they purred softly. The big black one's lips were caressing and touching the silver and blue one's neck and shoulder as his hand slipped up her torso. The silver and blue one turned a little to nuzzle the black one's face with her face, and … did robots French kiss?

Apparently-!

Sora felt her jaw drop. She was staring at a big black love-machine! Then her view was obliterated by the not-Prowl-Bot's black and gray legs. "_Miff scree-scree_!" the not-Prowl-Bot cried out. Sora closed her mouth, but her eyes remained huge.

"_Nickel miff click cheer nick-nick chi_," a deep voice clicked back in surprise. "_O_?" It sounded concerned now. "What is wrong, MyAuri?" Sora was relieved to hear that the big black love-machine spoke English, but she felt her body tense as heavy footsteps indicated the giant robot's approach. She shuddered. She had thought the not-Prowl-Bot had been big. Now Sora was seeing that the not-Prowl-Bot was relatively quite small.

"Everything…" the little not-Prowl-Bot said.

"Surely not everything," the deep voice said gently; it was very close now. It sent a chill up Sora's spine. "Tell me about it, my little one."

Sora blinked in surprise. 'My little one'? What on earth was going on? What did the big black love-machine mean by 'my little one'? She heard something like a sigh from the little femme. And she heard the giant robot sit down on the floor just in front of the little one.

"Basically it is just a few things." The femme said, sounding fairly collected. "I found Elita feeling very sick in the showers, so I stayed with her until someone came to take her to Med-Bay; that made me late for work. When I did arrive at the office, I found out that Prowl was absent." She sounded a little upset, but she paused and then continued steadily, "Then I received a call that the liaison had arrived -she's a day early! She had to wait a long time at the airstrip, but finally I pick upped her, but the power-core in this data-pad has completely failed, so I cannot retrieve any information about what is to be done for her. She is not pleased at all...!"

"You know that it is impossible to please a liaison, My little Auri; don't tear yourself up about that." The deep voice advised gently. "Do you have a plan for what you're going to do?"

"I donnnn't! I don't know what to do… And Prowl's in M-Med-Bay!" The little bot sounded suddenly very upset as she delivered this last piece of information. Sora felt her heart twisting.

"Prowl's not badly hurt at all. He'll be back on the job in a day or two." the deep voice said.

"Oh…'kay." This information calmed the little bot down a whole lot.

"Alright. Now here is a plan for you." the deep voice went on, "First, since you're already here, you retrieve a working data-pad. Then you can drop the liaison off at her apartment. They always need some time to 'freshen up' after travelling, you know. And because she is early, that gives you time to go over to Med-Bay and check on Prowl and get some instructions on what to do for the liaison."

There was a brief silence. Sora saw the femme's door-wings lower a little.

"Does that sound like a good plan to you?" the deep voice asked.

"I… yes." The little femme said reluctantly.

"Okay. Go get your data-pad then." A giant black hand patted the little femme's hip.

Sora blinked again.

The black and gray legs shifted hesitantly, and then they moved away. Sora looked up at the huge, deep-voiced, black Machine. He was watching the little femme and did not see her, Sora. He rose; he was even more giant than Sora had realized as another, more violent shiver ran down her back and her pulse started to rise again. He shifted his foot.

"Whoa!" Sora yelled, jumping backwards. The Machine froze and looked down at her. She saw the blue optics widen.

"Miss Liaison, I presume?" he asked.

"Yes." She said, "And I will thank you NOT to step on me!" she snapped. Then she mentally kicked herself for yelling at another Autobot. She wasn't trying to be horrid, but she kept getting so scared that it happened that way. She wanted to say sorry, but the words stuck in her throat again. The Machine was dreadfully huge.

"I did not know you were there." The Machine crouched down and studied her. "Did you have a good flight over?" he asked.

"Yes, thank-you." She replied firmly. She ordered herself to not panic. And the Machine was way, way too close for comfort. DId these beings have no sense of personal space?

"Did all your luggage arrive safely?" the Machine asked,

"What concern of that is yours?" Sora asked back suspiciously, suddenly remembering what Mariah had written about the Bots losing people's things.

"I'm just making sure the flight service is doing its job satisfactorily." The Machine replied easily, "I understand human airlines are notorious for losing peoples' luggage."

"And I understand you Autobots are notorious for relocating peoples' belongs." She told him, narrowing her eyes, "Do not act so concerned. I am not going to lose anything." Her voice shook a little.

The blue optics before her narrowed. She thought for a moment that she was going to end up in the hospital. "May you lose nothing, then." The Machine said, rising. "Auri?" he asked, turning.

Auri…? The Machine had used this in addressing the not-Prowl-Bot a couple times now, perhaps that was the little femme's name. Auri was tugging on a drawer that seemed to be part of the wall.

"Do you need help?" The Machine asked.

"One more try…" Auri said; she wasn't giving up. The Machine nodded. Auri gave the drawer a short tug followed by hard jerk. It came flying out and hit her in the chest, knocking her backwards as hundreds of Duplo* building blocks and four data-pads scattered across the floor.

The little bot on the floor moaned; she was crumpled up in a protective heap now.

"Auri, _cliff-if o nick-whirr_?" The Machine asked gently, going over to her.

Auri whimpered and rose. "_Mrrr-nick…!_" She cried. Then she ran past Sora and out the door, covering her face as she went.

This whole day was a huge, horrible disaster for poor Auri! She heard the Energon vampire yell "Hey!" as she ran, but she wasn't stopping for anything. She was going to cry in just a couple minutes, and she didn't want to cry in front of the big meanie.

Maybe Prowl wasn't hurt badly, but he still wasn't available! And the Energon vampire was mad, mad, and mean! And she couldn't talk go back to talk with Ironhide because Energon vampire was there!

She was cut off and all alone. She paused to strangle back a sob. Then she remembered Ratchet.

Ratchet would take care of her. He always did.

She drove to Med-Bay as fast as the speed-limit would let her, and then transformed and burst through the doors.

"Ratchet!" She cried, the tears spilling over and starting to trickle down her face.

Ratchet was there in an instant, taking her into his arms and cradling her gently as he sat on the floor, "Oh, Auri, my little sweet Spark, what's wrong?"

"Sh-sh-she's a vampire!" Auri sobbed, hiding her face against the Medic's shoulder.

Ratchet blinked. "A… a vampire?" he asked.

"Y-yes…!" Auri cried, "Ah-ah-ahn En-nerg-gon v-vamp-pire! An-n-nd sh-sh-she's g-gonna-a-ah e-e-eat-t-t m-me f-f-for l-l-lun-n-n-ch!"

"Oh, oh, dear." Ratchet had no idea what Auri was sobbing about, but he knew he needed to be sympathetic about it. "I won't let her get you, little one." He promised, gently rubbing her back as she cried.

He didn't say anything as she wept but rocked her softly for time to time, stroking her back with his fingertips.

He wondered what Auri meant by 'Energon vampire,' but he knew his curiosity could wait until she calmed down. She'd started to calm just a little, but then the sobs had gotten harder again.

"I won't let her get you," Ratchet promised again. "You're safe with me, Sweet Spark. You're safe."

Auri had no reply, only more tears.

"It's alright," Ratchet reassured her in a whisper, cuddling her closer, "I'll take care of you."

It would be a while, he supposed, before things would settle down. He sighed sadly, sorry for his little femme-ling, and kept on holding her, knowing it was the best thing he could do for her at the present.


	56. Chapter 56, MedBay

Update! :D

But there probably won't be an update next Monday because I'm going out of town one last time before school starts.

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Chapter 56

**Med-Bay**

Sora had been surprised by the flying Duplo* blocks, and startled when Auri had run past her, and then she'd become frightened when she realized that Auri was running away and completely leaving her.

"Hey!" Sora ran after her, forgetting her laptops in her desperation. There was no way she was going to be left with a big black love Machine and his silver and blue partner. "Wait!" She yelled desperately as she saw Auri round a corner and disappear. "No!" she cried. She knew she'd never catch Auri at this rate, but she kept on moving after her. She was glad she'd worn pants instead of a skirt. That was the only thing she was glad about, though. She blinked back a tear that threatened to fill her eye. She'd been horrible, and now she was going to pay for it.

She came to the corner and moaned. Auri was nowhere in sight. She'd never find the little bot, especially if the little bot was hiding from her.

A Jeep rumbled up. She glanced at it nervously, fearing what it might be. A clean-cut man in camouflage was at the wheel, though. It wasn't a Transformer. "You need a lift?" the man asked.

"No, thank-you." This day was going badly enough, anyway; she wasn't about to go getting in any kind of vehicle with a male stranger.

"I doubt you'll catch up with Auri on foot." He said with a bit of a kindly smile, "But I think she probably went to Med-Bay."

She suddenly didn't feel so hopeless. "Where is Med-Bay?"

"Take a quarter of a mile down this road, turn left, take a half a mile, and then another left, two blocks, and then a right, and you should find it before you go too far past the mural."

Oh. Nevermind the part about not feeling so hopeless.

"I could take you there." He offered.

Well…

He didn't seem like a bad type. She paused and then climbed into the Jeep.

"Are you our sociologist liaison?" he asked as he accelerated the vehicle smoothly.

"Y-yes, I am." She answered, a little surprised that he knew who she was.

"You're a day early, aren't you?"

She felt a jolt of surprise at this question. Auri had told the Machine that she was a day early as well. She pulled a convincing fake smile. "I'm just following orders." She said, hiding her growing suspicion that she was indeed a day early. Wow.

"I know what that's like." He said with an understanding nod. "'You were supposed to be here two weeks ago!'" he mimicked a stern tenor. "'Sorry, sir, just followin' orders.'" He quipped with a drawl, making Sora smile. "And that is how it goes." He made small talk with Sora as he drove, and managed to get her to smile some more. She was still scared and tense, but chatting with another human started to ease that; she felt herself relaxing a little as she talked with this easy-going man.

Then he motioned to a building with his hand. "And here's the mural…"

Sora watched it go by with curiosity.

"It's some nebula from one of the galaxies near their old home." He said, smiling as he glanced at.

"It's pretty." She said sincerely.

"It sure is. They're quite an artistic race." he replied. "And here's Med-Bay." he said as he halted his Jeep.

"Thank-you." She replied as she exited the Jeep. "And thank-you for the lift."

"You're welcome." He said with a nod. "Good luck, ma'am." Then he drove off, leaving Sora to face her fate alone.

She realized then with a jolt of horror that she'd left her laptops in Auri's quarters, but there wasn't any helping that now. And it didn't matter at present, she tried to tell herself.

She took a deep breath and shuddered. Then she braced herself and pushed open a human-sized door that was to the right of the gigantic Autobot-sized door.

She found herself in a reception area, a giant, giant reception area. She felt like a child's play-thing come alive. She shivered at the thought of being so small and vulnerable. She could easily get stepped on. She could hear someone crying inconsolably in the other room, and it made her shiver a little more.

One of the double doors to the next room was standing partially open. Hesitantly, Sora tip-toed across the vast room towards the doors. Nearing the doorway and peering in, she stopped with surprise at what she saw.

The little Bot who wasn't Prowl, that is, Auri, was sitting in the lap of another huge Autobot and crying like all her friends were dead. The other Autobot was gently petting her back and murmuring softly to her, as a parent would to an upset toddler.

'Oh, no...' Amy's eyes grew wide as she took in the scene. She bit her lip as it registered in her mind that Auri had to be young if the big Bots were treating her this way.

'I've hurt a child Autobot!' Her heart cried within her at this realization. To hurt somebody was a rotten thing in her sight, even though she slipped up and did it from time to time. But, to hurt a young somebody, that was horrid beyond words.

She felt her stomach clench up even more and felt a tear starting to well up in each of her eyes. She couldn't believe she'd done such a thing. 'How could you?' she cried at herself. 'How, how, how could you not see that she was so young and sensitive?' She wanted to run home and hide her face in her pillow and cry for a long, long time.

The big Autobot that was holding Auri looked up and gazed straight at her. She stared back, not knowing where to start or what to do.

The big Bot seemed more curious that dangerous, though. He gave Auri a little nudge.

"Is that the Energon vampire?" he asked gently.

Sora's eyes widened. Energon vampire…! ? It was a startling label. She had no idea what Energon was, but she realized that she'd earned the "vampire" part of it.

Auri, still crying, shifted a little and peeked at Sora. Then little bot wailed as she turned back to hide her face against the big Autobot's shoulder.

"Guess so." He said after a brief pause.

Sora stepped over the threshold and went towards the two Autobots. Yes, she was frightened, but resolve made her strong. She wasn't going to let this go any farther. She was going to apologize and try to start over the right way.

The big Bot watched her approach, his expression neutral.

Sora opened her mouth to say something to Auri, but she wasn't sure how to say it, and she wasn't sure if Auri would hear her or even notice her.

The big Bot saw her dilemma. "Auri," he said gently.

"Nooo!" Auri howled. "No-oh-oh! No-oh-waaaah!"

"Auri," He shifted her around so that she was facing the same direction he was. –For a moment, anyway. She howled more and curled up and twisted around so that she couldn't see Sora.

"NO-OOOH!" She was almost screaming.

The big Bot looked down at the curled up youngster. "C'mon, Auri." He said, trying to reposition her again.

"_Noooo!_" she screamed, "No!" she wailed, "Y-y-ou-u s-s-said-d- Y-y-ou-u w-w-would-d-d-dn-t-t l-l-let-t-t h-er-r-r g-get m-m-meeee!"

"She's just a regular person, Aurilaze."

Auri howled some more. And they weren't angry or tantrum howls. They were genuine howls of a hurt and frightened sparkling.

The big Bot sighed, staring down at her.

Sora stood there horrified. She'd triggered this. She felt a tear trickle down her cheek and moved her hand to brush it away. "I… I'm s-" she started to say, but then a crash behind her made her whirl around.

Then she gasped. The big black love-machine had slammed the doors open. And he didn't look amorous anymore; he looked enraged. And his eyes were glowing, snapping in rage, like some monster's from a horror movie. She'd always avoided horror movies…

"WHO DO YOU THINK ARE?" he roared, making her cringe. "WHAT KIND OF-!" He broke off as Sora doubled over and threw-up on Med-Bay floor.

Her stomach hadn't been able to handle all the stress as well as a huge dose of fear and sudden shock coupled with a giant machine roaring at her. And the pretzels. She gritted her teeth and shut her eyes tightly.

"Oh!" she heard a soft little female voice exclaim. "Sh-she g-got sick!" the little voice was astonished.

"So she did." The big Bot said drily.

Sora wish the floor would swallow her up. She couldn't think of anything worse than hurting the feelings of a little robot, getting yelled at by a big one, and then vomiting in front of them.

She flinched when something came into her line of sight then saw that it was a giant hand offering her wet wipe with its fingertips.

She took the wipe and used it on her mouth, grimacing. She heard the massive beings move around but kept her eyes on the floor.

"I-" the Machine started to say something but stopped when she twitched.

One of the really big ones approached her; she didn't look to see it, but she heard it come over. It could kill her with one little kick if it wanted to, she realized. Her breath caught in her throat, and she bit her lip, willing herself to not cry. She was an adult. They didn't cry. –Especially in front of giant, monster alien robots.-

She heard it crouch closer, and it made her whimper. She felt like a kitten cornered by some mean boys. She just wanted to be invisible.

"Oh, oh, Ratchet!" the little voice exclaimed softly. "She's scared of you. _Nlick-nlerr iff mrur_."

There was a pause, and then the big robot moved away.

Amy almost sighed, but she heard the small one coming over, the one that she'd hurt and made cry.

"It's okay," the little robot said coaxingly. "They won't hurt you. Ratchet just wanted to give you a water cylinder… uhm, bottle."

Amy lifted her head just enough to see the plastic water-bottle lying in the femme's hand. The hand moved towards her a little, encouragingly. Amy reached out slowly and put her hand on the bottle. She was almost touching the alien robot's hand. She glanced up. The Bot had crouched down so that she wasn't towering over Amy. Amy realized that she'd never gotten a really good look at the femme's face.

It was young and sincere. There were smudges on it from the tears, and it was silver colored. The eyes glowed blue and were as expressive as, if not more expressive than, human eyes. It was a pretty face.

One of the big Bots behind her shifted positions. The sound startled and frightened her, breaking her from her moment of peaceful study. She whirled to face it. He was so terrifyingly tall.

"He won't hurt you," the little Bot said again. "Here," she touched Amy's shoulder, "You should come and sit down; your body is fatigued."

The metal fingers were warm and surprisingly gentle as they lightly put guiding pressure on Amy's shoulder to nudge her to move.

Amy turned to look at the little bot again as she took a step. The Bot nodded in encouragement.

"Just over there, see? There's a place where you can sit." The Bot pointed.

Amy looked and saw a raised area along part of one of the wall; it was a few feet tall and a few feet wide. She looked back at the little Bot again and then headed over to the ledge to sit. She was still frightened, but now she was confused as well. The little bot, the one who she'd been so mean to, was being so very, very kind to her. Hadn't the little bot been screaming and howling only minutes ago because she didn't want to see Amy? It hardly made any sense, but she was eternally grateful and relieved that the little bot was being terribly nice to her.

Amy sank down with relief on the ledge, and the little bot, who'd followed her over, crouched down and sat with her legs folded beneath her. Amy breathed a tiny sigh.

"That's better, right?" the bot asked.

Amy nodded, still uncomfortable, though.

The next thing the bot did astonished Amy. The bot reached out and brushed her cheek with a finger.

Amy was surprised at the touch, but she managed to not react. Her first impulse was to jerk away, but she squelched it. She'd been mean enough; she didn't want to offend the bot by moving away. Tolerating her personal space being invaded would just have to be part of the consequences of her heedless, unkind actions.

"It's okay," the bot said gently. "Do you want this water?"

Amy nodded, and the bot gave her the bottle.

"There you go."

"Thank-you," Amy said softly, almost afraid to speak.

"You are welcome." the little bot sounded very pleased. It hurt to Amy; she knew she didn't deserve this kind of sweetness.

Amy's fingers trembled a little as she broke the seal on the bottle, but she managed to get it open and took a sip. The water was cool, but not too cold, and it tasted good, refreshing to her poor mouth.

"Good?" The bot asked gently.

Amy nodded. She wanted to curl up and be invisible.

"Good." The bot said, sounding pleased. She brushed the back of her fingers against Amy's shoulder. "You'll be alright."

Amy nodded, not sure what else to do. It was very odd to keep getting petted by this robot child. She wondered where the nice Jeep guy had gone and if he would know why the little bot kept petting her.

Amy jerked her attention to the big Autobots when one of the shifted. It was the one that had been holding Auri. She saw now that he must transform into an emergency vehicle of some sort. He was a medic, she realized.

He clicked quietly in the Transformers strange language to Auri, who listened to him attentively before nodding.

Auri turned back to Amy.

"Ratchet says that you're dehydrated, hungry, and in great need of sleep." She said gently. "You should have a little water, then sleep, and eat when you wake up, since your tank… uhm, stomach- is upset, and that will give it time to calm down."

Amy wondered what she was supposed to do with this set of suggestions.

"Come on," Auri nudged the water bottle that was still in Amy's hands with her finger. "Drink a little more."

Amy thought the big medic Autobot might have been smiling a little as she took another sip of water, but she wasn't sure.

"Alright," Auri said, "You can sleep here." She motioned to the ledge.

Amy eyed the ledge. She wasn't going to go sleeping on a ledge in some strange, giant Med-Bay.

"It's fine." Auri told her, "It's safe. I'll watch over you, and nobody will bother you."

Amy was quite ready to argue but suddenly stopped herself. The little Autobot seemed to be really trying to be kind. If she argued, it might upset and offend the Bot, and she didn't want that. And she was tired.

"I know you don't like it, but you need the sleep." Auri said patiently. Amy felt about four years old as the little bot took the water bottle from her and nudged her shoulder.

Amy looked up to find the femme-bot watching her closely, almost expectantly. Amy smiled hesitantly then obediently pulled her feet up onto the ledge and lay down. Then she curled up facing the wall with an arm protectively over her head. Perhaps maybe three years old was more like it.

"There you go," the little bot said encouragingly, "Sleep well." She added, gently rubbing Amy's back.

Amy stiffened at the touch, surprised again, but it was gentle and soothing to her tense muscles. It was warm, and it stayed there against her sore back, softening the aches from the stress and the trip. It felt good, like something from chiropractor's office.

Auri kept her hand against her poor liaison, waiting for the human fall asleep. Her sensors slowly began learning about human physiology and began explaining things to her. Her person was hungry and dehydrated and tired, as Ratchet had said. She was also very stressed out and had been tense and fretful for quite some time.

Auri felt the heart-rate slow as the human relaxed.

Her person must have been terrified, Auri realized, all alone on the airstrip like that. And humans didn't too well with too much heat, either. No wonder she'd been mad.

Auri sighed softly. She knew she got defensive and a little hostile when she was scared. She recalled snapping at Elita when she was going against the femme commander's wishes. If this poor person had been terribly scared, no wonder she'd "freaked out" like that.

The human was asleep now. Slowly, then, Auri took her hand away, careful not to disturb her liaison.

She turned to look at Ratchet and Ironhide who'd just been standing like statues to avoid upsetting the human.

"Okay," Auri whispered, "She's asleep." She rose and went quietly over to where Ratchet and Ironhide were standing. Both mechs relaxed and shifted positions carefully. Ratchet motioned for them to go to the reception room.

"What happened?" Ironhide asked as he sat down cross-legged on the reception room floor. Ratchet also sat on the floor. Auri went and sat on Ironhide's lap.

"I already told you what happened… basically," Auri answered softly as she settled against her strong and comforting Ironhide.

"Uh-huh, _basically_. What did she do or say to upset you so much?"

Auri gazed down at the floor.

Ratchet offered her a piece of copper candy. She took it, unaware that her guardian glared at the medic over her head. She smiled as she put it in her mouth. The candy was sweet as it started to melt. It was a slightly tingly, too, pleasantly tickling her mouth a little. It made her much happier.

"Nigh amof' wag' o'er 'er 'e'ore I fon' ger." She admitted.

"Say what?" Ratchet raised an optic ridge.

Auri repositioned the candy and tried to reply again. "I awmost wan oger 'er before I foun' 'er." She said a little more clearly.

"Tell us about it after you finish you candy." Ironhide advised, giving Ratchet another look.

"'es, 'ir." Auri said obediently.

She sucked the candy and melted it in her mouth, savoring the good taste as she cuddled against her guardian. Ratchet watched her with gentle, concerned optics.

She knew Ironhide was watching her as well. And she knew he wanted answers. She finished the sweet.

Then she told them everything that had happened in detail, starting with going out to mock battle and sliding down the hill, all the way to taking Agent Sora to Ironhide and Chromia's quarters.

"And then I opened the door…" she trailed off as her optics widened with horror.

"Auri?" Ratchet asked, starting to worry.

"Prowl…" Auri whispered, her expression of horror growing. "He s-said to not introduce her to Ironhide and Chromia until after a few days, and then separately if possible…" She fell silent and stared at the floor. '_Prowl, she and I just walked in on them making out... that's not going to go over well...!'_

A tear began to well up in one of her optics again.

"It will be alright," Ironhide told her. "Humans tend to forget things…" He knew better than that about this, though; Auri did, too.

Auri twisted and stared up at him, "Not that sort of thing!"

"What sort of thing… may I ask?" Ratchet asked, raising an optic-ridge.

"Nope." Ironhide said. "You may not ask."

Ratchet's optics widened; if Ironhide wasn't going tell him it had to be something not good. "_Please_ tell me you two had all your armor on."

"Well... I did." Ironhide said awkwardly.

"Anyway…!" Auri said deliberately, "Then I had a hard time getting the drawer open and when it finally came open it flew and hit me and spilled EVERYTHING!"

"Everything…?" Ratchet winced. If Chromia had stripped down, what did "everything" refer to?

"Duplo* blocks and four data-pads." Ironhide said quickly. "That's all."

"Oh, that's… that's not bad." Ratchet said, hiding a sigh of relief.

"So I ran away." Auri said.

"And came here?" Ratchet added.

"Uh-huh." Auri nodded. "You both know the rest." She said, settling her head against Ironhide.

"I would like to know something," Ironhide said after a moment.

Auri turned her attention to him.

"You were crying and screaming one moment, and then you were looking after the little monster the next." He said, "How'd that happen?"

Auri shifted so that she was lying on his lap, face up, looking up at him. "Well..." she shrugged a little, "I guess it's because she got sick like Elita did." she said slowly. "When Elita got sick, she needed somebody to take care of her. So I called Optimus for her. When this person got sick, there wasn't anybody to look after her, and she was scared of you mechs, so I looked after her." she explained simply.

"Ah..."

"And I guess I was scared at first because she acted scary. And then when she got sick, she was just a poor thing… and poor things aren't usually scary."

Ratchet and Ironhide took a moment to consider this.

"I need to go check on her." Auri said, suddenly anxious that her person might have woken up and found herself alone.

Ironhide let her get up and watched as she scampered off to check on her human.

"And the other reason is," Ratchet said with a little smile, "She's a femme."

Ironhide shifted his optics to Ratchet. "There is that." he said, a smile coming to his face as he realized what it meant for Auri's instincts. Then he chuckled. "I hope Miss Liaison won't mind being babied like a pet cyber-kitten, 'cause I'm thinking that's what she'll be in for."

Ratchet grinned. "Uh-huh."

"Ratchet," Auri said, putting her head in the room.

"Yes, Sweet-Spark?"

"I think she's cold and needs a blanket." Auri said seriously.

Ironhide hid his grin from Auri but shared it with Ratchet as the medic rose to go get a blanket.

Auri followed Ratchet as he went into the main part of the bay and opened a cabinet. Ironhide went to the doorway out of curiosity; he wanted to see this, wanted to see what happened.

Ratchet took out a folded human-sized blanket and handed it to the waiting Auri.

"Thank-you." She said.

"You're welcome." He said, smiling because he remembered the first time she'd said thank-you to him. He told her to thank him, and she'd had no idea what it meant. How far she'd come since then; it pleased him.

He and Ironhide watched as she took the blanket over and placed it, still folded, on the woman's feet. Then she unfolded it bit by bit, covering up the person little by little.

::That's how she blankets her doll.:: Ironhide told Ratchet over a private intercom link.

::Doll?::

::A little Transformer doll that she brought from Cybertron.:: Ironhide explained. ::She hid it for a while, but once I caught her playing with it and she leaves it out now.::

Ratchet was silent in amazement.

"Okay." Auri said in a whisper as she came back to the mechs.

Ratchet patted her shoulder. "You're a sweet little femme." He told her.

She giggled.

"What?" Ratchet questioned her odd response.

She stood up very, very straight, and shifted her door-wings to mimic the Second-in-Command's. "Ratchet, I believe, is going to spoil you with his excessive praise and too much copper candy." She said, copying Prowl's slightly disapproving tone of voice.

Ratchet chuckled at the imitation of Prowl.

"O-oh, it's a very serious thing, sir." Auri said with dramatic seriousness. "If I get spoiled, _he_ will have to deal with it."

Ironhide bit back a chuckle. He wanted to laugh, but this was a situation where she needed some guidance. "You say 'thank-you' when someone complements you." He instructed. "And I'd be careful about doing impersonations of Prowl if I was in your position."

Auri's mouth formed a surprised 'O' and then she nodded quickly. "Yes, sir." She said, lowering her wings to their natural tilt so that they no longer mimicked Prowl's. "And, thank-you, Ratchet."

He hugged the little femme and mouthed 'sorry' to Ironhide. Ironhide shrugged lightly, letting him know that it was alright.

Auri looked back to her liaison when Ratchet finished with the hug.

"We should find out who she is," Ratchet said as it suddenly occurred to him that they really didn't know the woman's name or anything about her.

Ironhide pulled her two laptop cases out of subspace.

"All private property of humans is to be treated as the private property of another Autobot." Auri said, becoming Office-Aurion in an instant.

"Come again?" Ratchet asked.

"We don't snoop other bots' tech." Auri said, "So we ought not snoop humans' tech, even if it's very easy to do so. It's not polite, _and_ it's against regulation."

"Got it." Ironhide said, looking down at the cases in his hands. The teensy-weensy zipper thingies would have been difficult to manipulate without breaking, anyway. He smiled and handed the cases to Auri, and she carefully went over and set them down on the floor near her person.

Then she stepped back and eyed her person curiously. "How long do you think she will sleep?" she asked.

"A bit longer than a cyber-kitten." Ratchet said with a smile. Ironhide knew why he smiled, but Auri gave the medic a perplexed look. "She'll probably sleep at least two hours." He clarified.

"Oh." That was a long, long time to wait.

"Uh-oh," Ironhide muttered. "Bye, my Auri," he said, "I'm almost going to be late for tactics class."

"A tactics class? And since when are you concerned about being on time?" Ratchet asked as the Weapons Master hugged his little femme quickly.

"I'm teaching it," Ironhide replied, "And I'd better not be late if I want to teach it."

Auri giggled. "Good luck," she told him.

"Thanks. I'll try to not shoot anybody."

Auri clasped her hands over her mouth to keep from laughing aloud and waking her person. Ironhide grinned mischievously at her and then ducked out of the room.

Auri looked around once he was gone, wondering what to do for two hours.

"Is Prowl awake?" she asked, suddenly remembering her poor Commander.

Ratchet shook her head. "No, he's not. Sorry, my little spark, but he'll probably be asleep longer than the liaison."

"Oh." So, that plan was no good. She needed a new one. "Are the twins…?" she trailed off as Ratchet smirked and shook his head.

"They are in the brig."

"Oh." Auri said flatly. Leave to the twins to get brigged even _before_ they got out of Med-Bay. They would be mad when they found out about her liaison, anyway. It would be better to wait a bit before telling them. "So…" So nothing. She sighed and looked down at her data-pad. She didn't really feel like reading or writing or even drawing. Then she smiled happily.

"Ratchet?" She asked,

"Yes?"

"May I play with some of the games that you let me play with when I was a patient in here?"

Ratchet nodded then moved to go get the games. They were contained in small data-pads and had holographing technology, 3D imaging, and touch-screens among other things. They were interactive, and that made them fun for young bots. They were also educational and helped strengthen logic and reasoning systems. But young bots didn't need to know that.

Auri took the data-pads with delight when Ratchet handed them to her. Then she sat down on the floor very near where her liaison was sleeping. She could play with her games to her spark's content, and she would be there when her liaison woke up.

Ratchet turned to work on his reports at his computer. And he smiled. Poor Miss Whatever-her-name-was. He bet she'd never thought such a thing would ever happen to her.


	57. Chapter 57, Patching Up

My younger cousins are over while their parents are on an anniversary trip, three boys 14, 8, and 6 or something like that, and a three year old princess. Anyways, they brought their Legos, and I made a Lego Transformer with the younger two boys. It was fun. And the youngest boy made "Oc..Op-timus Prime Junior." And apparently, "Optimus Prime Junior doesn't need weapons. He kicks and punches because he's in Expert in Karate." It was pretty cute. And Princess made "A baby Twansformor. ...wiff wings." XD

* * *

Chapter 57

**Patching Up **

She'd been having an extremely odd dream. There'd been a giant robot kissing another giant robot. And there'd been a little robot treating her like a kitten, giving her water and telling her to go to sleep and petting her.

It really had been quite odd. She supposed she'd dreamed it because Mariah had said that her study-subjects were alien robots. But, then, Mariah had been on medication and probably hadn't known what she was talking about. Life as a sociologist was weird sometimes, Amy thought. It produced strange and slightly disturbing dreams.

She wouldn't let it bother her, though. She pulled the blanket a little more closely around herself and shifted positions on the rather hard ledge in Med-Bay that she was sleeping on.

Then she was wide awake. None of that had been a dream. There _had_ been a giant robot kissing another giant robot. And there _had_ been a little robot treating her like a kitten, giving her water and telling her to go to sleep and petting her. And she remembered everything else that had happened as well.

Amy swallowed the lump that seemed to form in her throat and decided that she was going to move very, very slowly. And she was going to count to ten before she ever spoke. Shifting carefully, she moved onto her back and turned her head so that she could see Med-Bay. The medic robot was there, watching her from his desk, seeming rather expectant and curious. And the little robot, well, _comparatively_ little robot, was lying motionless on the floor near the ledge.

Amy sat up and stared at her. She was face down with some tablet, data-pad things, near her head. In fact, her head was resting on one of these things. But she wasn't moving, and her eyes –optics- were shut.

"She's in recharge," the medic said softly; he sounded non-threatening, "It's like sleep… She's napping."

Amy opened her mouth in a silent, "oh…"

"Was _your_ nap good?" the medic asked in the same soft tone.

Amy nodded. It had been. "Y-yes." She said, searching for something else to say as well. "It… was just what I needed. Thank-you."

The medic nodded.

Amy looked back at the little robot, watching her thoughtfully.

"You slept about two hours and nine minutes." The medic said as he slowly rose and came over.

Amy widened her eyes. "I guess I had been pretty tired." She said. She avoided looking at the medic as her came closer. He was way too huge. "How long has she been... napping?" she asked, looking at the little robot to keep from seeming rude to the big one.

"About forty-three minutes."

"A-oh." Now she wondered how long little robots tended to nap.

The medic sat down on the floor near the little robot and near Amy. "I'm the Chief Medic Officer." He said with a bit of a smile, "The name is 'Ratchet.'"

"R-Ratchet. Pleased to meet you." Amy managed to say. "I, um, I am Amy Sora. Mariah Phillips got sick and wasn't able to make it, so she sent me instead." She explained briefly, summoning up enough nerve to meet the medic's optics.

"Hm." He nodded, "If Agent Phillips sent you, then I am sure you will do well."

Amy smiled. "I wish I had your confidence." She said with a slight laugh, seeking to lighten the conversation a little as well as see how the robot responded to humor.

"It is more like expectations than confidence." He said with a soft chuckle.

"Oh, I really feel great now." She tried a little sarcasm since the humor had gone over fairly well.

The medic smiled half a gentle smile. "It will work out, Amy Sora." He encouragingly, "I believe Auri will give you a second chance, as will I."

Amy felt herself suddenly feeling soft and sentimental. He was treating her as gently and patiently as he did the little robot. "Thank-you…" she said, trailing off because words failed her to express anything further.

"Ironhide probably will, too, once Auri puts in a good word for you and you clean up your manners." Ratchet added.

Amy stiffened. "Who's Ironhide?" she asked although she was certain that it was the big black Machine that had yelled at her and made her sick.

"You met him." Ratchet said with a little bit of a smile, "That one's guardian." He added, pointing to Auri.

"Thought so…" she said, looking at the little robot again. It was kind of fascinating. The big ones were just frightening, but the little –_littler_- one, wasn't quite so intimidating. Her hands had been warm and gentle, which was interesting, for Amy had always thought robot hands would be cold and clumsy.

"She probably won't wake if you touch her." Ratchet said after watching her a moment.

Amy looked to him questioningly. Was he saying she could touch the little robot? He nodded, and she quietly got up from the ledge and touched Auri's door-wing tentatively. It was warm, like touching a car door that the sun had been shining on for a little while, warm but not hot. But it seemed more than just that, though. She thought she could almost feel some kind of pulse or energy flowing through it.

She drew her hand back in awe. She had touched a little alien robot and it had felt intensely alive.

"She meant to stay up and guard you as she said she would." Ratchet said, smiling gently. "There was no threat, though, and her systems overrode her intent."

Amy hesitated, considering this.

"That is to say," Ratchet added, "If we'd been dangerous, she'd still be awake. She'd be tired, but she'd be awake."

"Aw…" She got it, and it was touching.

"I'll warn you now that she's probably going to be at least a little upset that she didn't do as she'd said she would. Doing what you say you'll do is a pretty serious thing to us. And she's not going to be happy that she didn't."

Amy nodded her understanding, feeling bad for the little bot. "Poor thing…" she murmured, "What should I tell her if she gets upset?" she asked.

"I'll probably do the talking, but if it comes to you, you just reassure her that you're not upset with or mad at her."

Amy nodded seriously. She realized how important this would be, especially since she had completely unleashed her anger on the little bot earlier. "Do you think," she started, but she was interrupted by her stomach growling. She put her hand over the organ in embarrassment.

"I think you're hungry." The medic said, rising.

"Well, yes…" She said uncomfortably as she darted an upwards look at the giant. He walked away to a counter and opened a metal box of some sort and took something out of it. Amy watched as he came back with something in his hand. It looked like a paper bag from a restaurant.

"I understand hamburgers are one of the most common foods that you folks like," Ratchet said, "But considering that you're recovering from an upset stomach, I decided that a Panini would probably be better for your system."

Amy tried not to grin, but she couldn't hide the delight on her face. A Panini sounded wonderful. Warm toasty bread... slightly melted swiss cheese, juicy tomato, deli meat...

Ratchet chuckled as he crouched down to give her the bag that he held carefully in his fingertips. He'd not seen anybody light up at food like that since he'd had Auri as a patient in Med-Bay. And he'd never seen a human light up that. "Sorry you're disappointed." he teased.

"I'll get over it soon enough." She teased back, eagerly taking the warm sack. "Mmm…!" The sandwich smelled marvelous as she removed it.

"Don't eat too fast," the medic cautioned as she opened her mouth for her first bite. "You don't want to get sick again."

She nodded as she bit in. It was ambrosia. She sat on the ledge and savored her food, looking around but mostly looking at Ratchet and the little bot.

"Where did -Ironhide?- go?" she asked after a few bites.

"Ironhide had a class to teach." Ratchet replied. "It was on battle tactics, I believe." He added with a slight smirk.

"Mm." She could easily envision that.

"He's our weapons specialist. If it shoots or goes boom, he's into it. He fixes them or makes them. He's got a forge, too… makes armor or whatever is needed."

"Kind of like a black-smith?"

"Kind of." The bot smiled as he answered.

"And he's her guardian?" she dipped her head towards Auri.

"He and Chromia are."

"Chromia? Is that a blue and silver… bot?"

Ratchet grimaced. "Chromia is a femme. She's Ironhide's spark-mate, what you'd call a wife." He explained, "She's blue, and you need to forget that you ever saw silver."

Amy looked at him, rather puzzled. "Wh… why?"

Ratchet rubbed the back of his head. "You aren't supposed to know about the intimate details of our bodies. Do I need to explain further?"

Amy shook her head vigorously as her face warmed up.

"Okay." Ratchet said.

"So." They had reached an awkward point. How could she possibly forget what she'd seen? It wouldn't happen, she knew. But she could pretend that she never seen it. "That was a good Panini." She said, stuffing the wrapping paper into the sack.

"I'm pleased to hear it." Ratchet said, offering her a wet wipe.

"Thank-you." Did these robots have everything? It was amazing.

Ratchet decided that Auri should wake up. She'd probably had a very good nap by now and would be a chipper little thing. He moved closer and was pleased to note that, although Amy looked at him more watchfully, she didn't seem panicked.

He put a hand on Auri's back and rubbed gently. "Auri, my little one," he said softly, "Time to wake up." He tickled her side a bit, and she shifted positions. "Come on," he slipped his fingers under her a little to reach her more sensitive ribbing.

Amy scooted back a couple feet as Auri squirmed. The little bot giggled and curled up on her side.

"Waking up?" Ratchet asked, chuckling as he tickled her more and made her giggle more.

"Stop it," she giggled, rolling onto her back to push Ratchet away with her feet. "No."

"Uh-oh, now you're in for it." He teased, catching her feet and tickling her ankles.

"I'm aWAKE!" Auri squealed. "Eeek! I'm waked up!" She stopped giggling as confusion flooded her systems. Why was she in Med-Bay? –On the floor of all places? Ratchet let her pull her feet free, and she stood up as she remembered everything.

She scowled, upset. "I was going to stay awake!" As Ratchet had predicted, she wasn't pleased. And then she saw Amy awake and watching her, and she hugged herself, hunching her wings up and tucking her chin down. "I was," she protested softly.

Ratchet grimaced. "Auri," He said, "Is that how Prowl wishes you to handle mistakes?"

"I don't care about Prowl's wishes!" she replied rather petulantly, "_She_ is gonna eat me."

"Auri." Ratchet wasn't going to put up with this. "That's enough." He told her sternly. "Agent Sora is not going eat you literally _or_ figuratively. You straighten up and be a professional little bot as Prowl would want you to be."

Auri paused. She didn't want to be a professional little bot. She'd messed up again for the third time that day, and she didn't want to do it again. She wanted to go curl up somewhere safe and read a story. But Prowl was counting on her. If she didn't be a professional little bot, she would be letting him down. She sighed. "Yes, sir." She said.

"Alright. I have a couple reports that I need to work on. I'll be nearby." He told her then went off to his desk.

Auri watched him go. She didn't want to do this. The Energon vampire wasn't sick and pitiful anymore; she was probably going to be mean again.

"My name is Amy Sora," Amy said, hoping the little bot wasn't going to be too upset.

Auri turned and looked at her reproachfully.

"I apologize for everything unkind that I said and did." Amy said softly. "I never, ever should have behaved that way, and I'm sorry. Can you forgive me? Can we start over again?"

Auri cocked her head. Maybe she wasn't so mean.

"Please?" Amy asked, suddenly fearing that her actions had permanently ruined their relationship.

Auri nodded. "I forgive you." She said softly. She was still a little apprehensive, but she was going to give her a chance. "We can start over." she said with more confidence.

"Thank-you. And I really mean it. I am deeply sorry."

"It's alright." Auri said, warming up as the repeated apology softening her. She unwrapped her arms from around her body. "I messed up, too. I'm sorry as well."

"I don't hold it against you at all." Amy told her gently, "It's okay, and we can just move on. Does that sound good?"

Auri nodded. "Yes."

"Okay." Amy said. Things were much better now. "I never did get an introduction." She hinted with a coaxing smile.

"I'm Aurion Blaze." Auri said with a pleased smile, "I'm Commander Prowl's office assistant." And apparently she was a little proud of that.

"Pleased to meet you." Amy said sincerely. "Come to think of it, I'm Mariah Phillip's assistant."

Auri grinned then, this appealing to her for some reason. "Prowl got hurt during a battle with a Con; what happened to _your_ mentor?"

"Nothing that impressive." Amy said, trying not to chuckle as Auri's way of putting it, "She got sick with some bug and couldn't travel."

"I hope she'll be better soon," the amount of concern the little bot showed was sweet, particularly since she'd never met Phillips.

"I'm sure she will." Amy said, warming up more.

"That's good. Ironhide brought your laptops for you." Auri said, suddenly noticing the computer cases. "He didn't look at them."

"O-oh, thank-you for pointing them out; I would have worried." The quick subject change surprised Amy.

Then there was an awkward silence. That part where they been in Ironhide and Chromia's quarters wasn't supposed to have happened.

"Well, there was some sort of mix-up regarding the date of your arrival." Auri said at random.

"Yes, I noticed." Amy said quickly, eager to move on, "I think your team probably had it right, though. I only found out about this last night, and my flight and everything was scheduled only a few hours before that."

"That _is_ short notice!" Auri was astonished. She would have been deeply upset if her mission had been changed so completely in that short of a time.

"It is." Amy said then paused thoughtfully. "Are we going to be alright?" she asked, searching the little bot's face.

Auri sat down to be closer to the human's height. "We are going to be more than alright." She said with a smile, "We're going to be great."

This made Amy grin. "I like the sound of that."

Auri nodded, pleased. "We do have a dwelling-place for you. And all sorts of things that Agent Phillips and Commander Prowl had planned out." She said eagerly, "And since you're a day early, we can go lazily a bit for the first couple days while you calm down and settle in."

"That really sounds nice. Sounds less stressful."

"Nothing should be stressful." Auri quickly assured her liaison. "It should go smoothly. Prowl always plans things well. I don't know how to yet, but he does."

Amy smiled, a little entertained by this. "May I ask how old you are?"

Auri giggled and looked over at Ratchet, who was smiling. Then she named a vast number of years. Amy's eyes widened.

"Nothing like humans, huh?"

"I'll say." Amy said in amazement.

"But, in human years, I'm somewhere around five, fifteen, and twenty years old depending on my mood."

"Oh?" Amy wasn't sure how she kept from laughing aloud at this, but she did and kept it to just a smile.

"And it depends on who I'm with. I'm older with Prowl, younger with my guardians, and seventeen with my brothers."

"You have brothers?" this was astonishing. A robot with brothers.

"Not actually. We don't share the same creators; just our relationship is a sibling type relationship."

"Oh, okay."

"I have three of them: Bumblebee and Sunstreaker and Sideswipe. The latter two we generally call Sunny and Sides. And they are actually brothers, twins."

"T-twins? I didn't know… that robots came as twins."

Auri cocked an optic-ridge in surprise, "Well,-"

"**RATCHET!**" Someone roared angrily from another room. "_**RAAATCHET!**_"

"Oh, scrap." Ratchet said. It was Prowl.

"Oh!" Auri was startled. She'd never heard Prowl yell like that. She'd never heard him furious.

"Oh?" Amy wasn't sure what was going on. She never heard Prowl at all.

Ratchet cussed a little as he saved his report and got up from his desk.

"_**RATCHET, YOU GLITCHED HARD-HELM, WHERE **_**ARE**_**YOU! ?**_" Prowl bellowed from the other room.

Auri gasped, and her optics widened with shock. Never, ever had she heard Prowl talk like _that_. She went after Ratchet as he went into the other room. Amy dashed after the robots, not wanting to be left behind.

"YOU'VE GOTTA _DISGUSTIN'_ AMOUNT OF NERVE-WIRING, YAH _PIT-SPAWNED BACK-STABBER_!" Prowl ranted at Ratchet. He was prone on a medical berth, and energy bonds on his wrists and ankles kept him from going anywhere. Auri was completely horrified as her Commander swore at Ratchet.

"Prowl," Ratchet started, but Prowl went on furiously.

"YOU PROMISED, _**YAH PROMISED**_, AND YAH WENT BACK LIKE A LIFE-ENERGON-_SUCKIN'_ DECEPTICON!"

Auri gasped again, but Prowl never heard her. He didn't even see her.

"I PUT TRUST IN YOU; I TOOK YOU AT YOUR _**WORD**_-"

"Prowl,"

"DO YAH THINK IT'S ACCEPTABLE TO GO BACK? 'CAUSE IF YAH DO, YAH'VE GOT **SERIOUS** PROBLEMS-"

"Prowl,"

"IT'S COMPLETELY, INDUBITABLY _**DESPICABLE**_-"

"_Prowl,_"

"AND DON'T YAH EVEN _**THINK**_ AH'LL TOLERATE THIS, **YAH SPAWN OF A'**"

"**PROWL!**" Ratchet roared as Auri's jaw dropped.

"_**WHAT!**_" Prowl roared back.

Auri darted behind the door to hide.

"Auri's in here."

Prowl froze, horror-struck. Auri was there? He shifted to look around and see where she was. There she was, just behind the door, peeking out and staring at him in utter shock. He'd never seen her optics so wide before.

"I… I am sorry, Aurion." He said, his voice unusually soft with regret. "I never would have said those things if I had know that you were present."

Auri came out from hiding a little and nodded, accepting his apology although she was still shaken up.

Prowl sighed and put his head back down on the berth. "I did not mean what I said, Ratchet." He said tiredly.

"I know, Prowl-Bot. I know." Ratchet said, patting the Commander's shoulder.

"You did promise to not use restraints on me, though." the poor Commander reproached.

Ratchet down-powered the restraints so that they vanished and freed Prowl. "I did promise. In the fuss and hurry of looking after everybody, though, I forgot about it. It was completely unintentional." He explained. "I apologize."

"I forgive. And I am sorry for yelling those things."

"It's alright, poor Prowl." Ratchet said, rubbing Prowl's shoulder. "I've be yelled at worse."

"True…" But that didn't make the poor commander feel any better. He's physically felt bad, and then he'd yelled at one of his best comrades in front of his little subordinate on top of it and had made himself feel bad emotionally. He generally tried to aviod anything that caused feelings in him.

"It's alright, Commander." Auri said softly, hoping that having someone else encourage him as well might cheer him.

He turned his head to face her again. He might have felt better with her encouragement, but then he saw Amy Sora standing a little ways back. "Who is that?" he asked.

Auri's door-wings dipped down, one more than the other. "That is Agent Amy Sora. Mariah Phillips got unwell and couldn't come, so Agent Sora came in her place." She managed to not grimace as she spoke, but she felt like it.

"Welcome, Agent Sora." Prowl said, feeling worse because he knew the human must have heard him yelling and name-calling.

"Thank-you, Commander. I hope you'll have a speedy recovery."

"Thank-you." He said.

"Okay, out, out." Ratchet said to Auri and Amy, "Prowl needs space."

"Yes, sir." Auri said, "I need to talk with him later, though." She added as she left.

The little femme and the woman went back to the ledge. Amy sat on the ledge, and Auri sat on the floor.

"He's having a bad day, too." Auri said with a sigh. "He almost never, ever, ever has bad days. But when he does, they're never like this. Usually he only scowls a little and gets bossier. I never heard him yell like that."

"I noticed you looked rather shocked."

"Uh-huh! I was completely and dreadfully shocked."

Amy smiled at the emphatic nod that the little bot gave as she said 'dreadfully.'

"And he never uses that kind of language. Well, I did hear him say 'scrap' once, but that was just because some Cons had hacked into our system ad were corrupting files of ours."

"Do the other bots use that kind of language?"

"Mmm… not around me usually. The femmes do a bit during our battle practice; they get a little wound up. I don't know for sure about the mechs during battle practice because I'm too small to participate, but I'd bet they do. They can be pretty rough."

"I'm sure!"

"Did Ratchet get food for you?"

"Ah, y-yes he did. And it was very good." The swift subject change had surprised Amy again, but she caught up quickly.

"Okay." Auri seemed very content with that answer. "Have you felt any sick since?"

"No, I haven't. Thank-you for asking." Amy replied, smiling. She liked this cute little bot. She glanced over to the area where she'd been sick.

"We have cleaner droids." Auri said.

Amy jerked her attention back to Auri. What an observant bot. That had been embarrassing. She smiled sheepishly. "Sorry about that."

"Oh, it's alright. One of the other bots was sick that way this morning, too, so we weren't much bothered."

"A-oh." She supposed that was intended to be some sort of consolation. Then she felt a little concern. "Do bots get sick very often?"

Auri shook her head. "We hardly ever get sick. We get hurt much more often… because we're at war with the Cons, we generally get battle wounds. Elita was just sick because she got a battle-wound; Ratchet gave her medication to protect her from any virus that might have been in the weapon, and her system rejected the medication."

"Oh." She felt rather sad for this Elita whoever she might be.

"She's alright now." Auri told her comfortingly.

"Well, -ah-" Amy gasped and tensed up as a familiar big black form came through the doorway.

"It's okay," Auri said, reaching over to rub Amy's shoulder. "He won't hurt you."

Amy knew it was probably true, but she moved over closer to the little bot for safety. Auri put a comforting hand on her upper back.

"Good day, myGuard'." Auri greeted Ironhide with a smile.

"Good day, My Auri." Ironhide replied, coming over too close for Amy's comfort.

"You're scaring her."

"She can get over it." Ironhide said firmly, sitting down facing his femme-ling.

Auri rubbed Amy's back gently as she felt her human get much tenser.

"Sleep well?" Ironhide asked.

Amy nodded nervously.

He didn't like beating around the bush, so he got to his point. "Come here."

Amy's eyes widened and her whole body stiffened with fear at the command.

The hand on her back gave another gentle rub then nudged her forward. She resisted as she started to tremble.

"_Mmr-rrah, glirr wit kier-iriI_." Auri chirred beseechingly.

"_Glick gr mic if._" The reply was gentle but stern. The little hand left her back.

"Don't!" Amy cried, dropping to crouch on the floor and hugging herself protectively as the big black monster reached towards her. "Don't…" she whimpered.

Auri tried not to cry at the sight of her poor human so frightened. She put a fist against one optic and watched with the other. She knew her guardian would never hurt a person, but it was still stressful to watch.

Ironhide gently put his hand over the woman. He knew she was absolutely terrified of him, but he knew she never would get near him if he just left her be. He needed to show her that he wouldn't hurt her. Auri understood this as well.

Ironhide put a finger against the woman's shoulder, barely touching her, but making it known that he was there.

"I've never hurt a human before." He said quietly. "And I don't ever intend to. I ought never have yelled at you like I did, but it happened. It was a guardian reflex. You made my sparkling cry, so I yelled at you; that's just how it went. If we put that behind us, I think we can move on. Okay?"

Amy nodded.

"Alright. Come on up now." He moved his hand from her back and touched her face as she rose. "You don't need to cry." He said gently, feeling the tears on her cheek.

She brushed them away.

"You'll be just fine," he told her, putting his fingertips against her back and rubbing ever so slightly. There was something very comforting about the touch. Amy found enough courage to look up at her object of fear.

He wasn't frightening any more. His expression was gentle and understanding. His optics glowed a gentle blue with a light touch of lavender.

"Hi." She said. He was bossy but not mean, she decided.

He smiled. "Hello. Ever met a giant alien weapons specialist before?" It was a silly question, and they knew it. It added much needed levity.

She chuckled softly. "Nope."

"You have now." He said, offering his hand to her.

"Pleased to meet you." She said and touched a massive metal finger. She liked his voice.

Auri sighed with contentment. They were all on the right road now.


	58. Chapter 58, Explanations

Didn't know Prowl had a drawl when he got very mad, did you? That was fun to do. X)

Okay, bad news. I think the evil virus that my laptop got the other week came from DeviantART. So, I'm taking a break from DA, not visiting it at all until I figure out a safe way to go on it. Anyway, if you message me on it, I won't get it for some time. And I don't know when I'll be back on it.

Okay, good news... UPDATE! :D

* * *

Chapter 58

**Explanations **

Ratchet spent some time with the miserable Second-in-Command. He reassured the patrol bot that Auri hadn't been too upset by his out-of-character ranting. He reassured him that he would be out of Med-Bay in a very short period of time, that he wasn't mad about the name-calling, and that he would let him use his data-pads and do work stuff on them if he wanted to. Usually this last thing was forbidden, but Ratchet knew Prowl would be that much happier if he could be doing some work. And right now Prowl seriously needed to be happier.

"Alright." Ratchet said. "I've got to go check on something in the main room, but I'll be back in a little while. And then I have to give you another scan. Okay?"

"Understood." Prowl tiredly. He felt pretty beaten.

Ratchet sighed and left to go check on the company in the main room. Auri and Amy were still there, he knew, but he'd thought he'd heard Ironhide as well. This was what he was concerned about.

On entering the room, he saw that all was well. Ironhide was sitting on the floor, leaning against the wall lazily with the liaison sitting on the ledge nearby. He was talking to her and had her complete attention. Auri was lying on her belly on the floor looking at one data-pad, and a large stack of data-pads was within her reach.

"How goes it?" he asked.

"It goes well." Ironhide said, smiling. "Auri's grading the tests."

Auri looked up and grinned. Ratchet chuckled. Ironhide hated grading tests even more than students hated taking them. Auri seemed to think grading was like some sort of matching game and rather enjoyed it.

"I think he bored everybody on this third section, for only a few so far have gotten more than a couple answers right on it." Auri said, holding up a data-pad to show the medic.

"Oh. You blame the teacher for bad grades?" Ironhide asked. Amy, who'd been watching everything intently, looked curious.

"Not really." Auri replied, "I blame them for getting a bad grade because they didn't pay attention to boring stuff."

"Ah…" Ironhide said.

"Let's face it, mech." Ratchet said with a grin. "You're boring."

"Well, Chromia-" Ironhide broke off as his optics fell on the human. "Erm. I… am not boring. It was a boring section of material; I tried, but some things just can't be made interesting."

"Shall I grade that part lightly then?" Auri asked.

Ironhide raised an optic-ridge. "If you seriously want to go recalculate how to weigh all the other sections' grades, you may."

Auri pursed her lips.

"Question here," Amy said. "It might be a dumb one…"

"Go head." Ironhide said with a smile. "I take those all the time."

Auri glared at her guardian and slapped his foot rather hard. He looked surprised for a split-second then reached over and swatted her hand.

Amy blinked, this action towards Auri startling her.

"What's your question?" he asked as Auri rubbed her hand.

"Umm… If you … guys… are robots, aren't calculations easy?"

"That wasn't a dumb question." Ironhide told her as he rubbed Auri's head gently.

"Oh, alright." Amy was relieved. It was nice to hear that her question wasn't dumb.

"The answer… is rather long and complicated, though." Ironhide warned.

"Bring it on." Amy said with a smile, ready for a challenge.

"Your microwave, your GPS, and your calculator are all robots in the very, very painfully simplest sense. But your GPS doesn't make popcorn, and your microwave can't tell you the square-root of pi. And your calculator can tell you sums and differences, but if it's not a graphing calculator, it's not going to know two bytes about what X equals."

Auri giggled.

"What's so amusing?" Ironhide asked, smiling expectantly at his femme-ling.

"It doesn't know two bytes about pi."

Amy cracked up at the pun immediately, but Ironhide had to pause. Ratchet hesitated then laughed. Then Ironhide finally got it and chuckled.

"Alright." Ironhide said, still chuckling. "And this is another thing, Miss Liaison. We can be slow to pick up on non-Cybertronian puns."

"Once we get them, though, you're doomed." Ratchet added. "Heyyyyy," he growled at someone else. They looked over to see the object of his aggravation. Prowl was standing in the doorway. "Did I say you could get up? Go get back on your berth." The medic ordered.

Prowl cocked his head ever so slightly. "I believe you granted permission to office communications? I need to email several beings."

Ratchet glared at the Commander.

The Commander held his ground.

"You go back on your berth the moment you finish signing out of email." Ratchet ordered darkly, motioning Prowl over to the computer at the desk.

"Thank-you." Prowl ignored the command and accepted the gesture.

"Officers." Ratchet muttered as Prowl took a cautious step towards the desk.

"I still need to talk with him later." Auri said, worrying that she might not get to.

"I'll let you talk with him. Later, though." Ratchet said.

"Shall I get back to my answer?" Ironhide asked.

"By all means."

"As I was saying," Ironhide went on, "Microwaves don't know two bytes about pie, but they can warm it up because that is their given function."

Auri grinned, delighted to no end that her guardian had used her pun.

"We're robotic in nature," Ironhide continued, "but that doesn't mean we have the function of calculators or laptops. We have free-will; we can do whatever we want, and we can make mistakes. Your robots only make mistakes because of imperfect commands. We make mistakes because we're sentient."

"Hm."

"And we're all different, with different functions. Optimus is a good leader; Ratchet is a good medic. They're both Transformers, Cybertronians, but they can't do each others' jobs as well as they can do their own. We do have high math skills, but it does take effort for some of us. I can calculate anything for my guns, but when it comes to weighing grades, it's a different sort of math, one that I'm not practiced in, so I don't care for it as much. We have likes and dislikes."

"Okay. So, you can do it, but you don't like to do it?"

"Basically, yes. Now, Auri would like to do it, but she's not sure how to."

This perplexed the woman. "She doesn't know how?" This was hard to believe.

"We aren't like your laptops that come all programmed. We have to learn. We're a work in progress."

"Okay."

"It might be less confusing if you take everything you know about computers, robots, technology and aliens and not apply it to us." Ratchet suggested gently.

"It would be kind of like me finding a biological thing, a sea urchin, and supposing that because a human was a bi-org, too, it would be like a sea urchin." Auri said.

"Ohhhhhh-kay." Amy said, widening her eyes. Wow. She wouldn't like being compared to a sea urchin. Transformer is to robot as human is to sea urchin.

"That was a little blunt, but, yes." Ironhide said with a smile. Then he frowned. "Who taught you to say bi-org, my little one?"

Auri's brow furrowed. "I heard Sunny and Sides say it a couple times." She said, looking up to her guardian with concerned optics. "It is not nice?"

Ironhide shook his head. "It's a nicer term than some, but I would rather you not use it."

"Yes, sir. I won't use it." She said. "Twins." She muttered. Ironhide smiled reassuringly at her.

"It takes time to figure out, my little one." He told her.

"Am I going to meet these twins at some point?" Amy asked, remembering what Mariah had written about them.

"If you want to, you can." Ratchet said, reflecting grimly that no liaison ever was ready to meet the twins.

"Well, I would like to…" She'd heard the negative tone in Ratchet's voice, and it concerned her.

"You can meet allllll the bots you want to." Auri said, smiling at her person to reassure her that it was alright.

"Oh. That reminds me," Ratchet said, "Who told you about Energon vampires?"

"TOLD WHAT?" Ironhide's roar made Auri wince and Amy jump.

Ratchet grimaced. "When Auri came in here, she was crying something about Amy being an Energon vampire, and I just want to know who told her there was such a thing." He said calmly.

Auri sat up and looked thoughtful. The big bots waited for her to say something, but she didn't.

"Are you going to answer?" Ratchet asked

"Yeah... yes, sir" Auri amended. "Um…"

"Did the twins tell you about them? Did Mirage?" Ironhide prompted when she didn't go on.

"Well…" she looked over at Prowl typing on the computer. "A twin said it one time, and Prowl told me about them, and…"

Prowl slowed his typing on hearing his name. It was always disturbing to hear his name used in the same sentence with the phrase, 'the twins said.'

"Prowl!" Ratchet was astonished. Ironhide raised an optic-ridge.

"Of what are we speaking?" Prowl asked, turning from the computer with a degree of apprehension.

"Energon vampires." Auri said.

Prowl grimaced ever so slightly, and his right door-wing lowered a little.

"_You_ told her about vampires?" Ratchet asked.

Prowl nodded hesitantly. He never should have asked to use the computer. He should have stayed on the berth, quietly fretting about his email and going insane from fretting about his job.

"One of the liaisons said something to Sunny, and Sunny said, 'Energon vampire' once we were out of audio-processer range." Auri explained, "I didn't think about it after that, but then Prowl used it,"

"Just how did he use it?" Ironhide asked.

"Um…" Auri looked over at Prowl apologetically. "The same way Sunny did. He just said it once the liaison was gone."

"Ah."

"And so I asked him what an Energon vampire was. He said it was a sort of monster that weakens or kills Transformers by sapping their life-force from them, and that it usually paralyzed them with fear beforehand by harassing them first so they'd be too weak to fight it off."

"Thank-you, Prowl." Ironhide said darkly. "She really needed to have that in her memory banks."

Prowl shifted his optics down and away.

"And the twins told me more about them afterwards." Auri said, feeling badly for the twins, but wishing to draw the focus away from her Commander.

"Oh, did they?" Ironhide questioned protectively.

Auri smiled laughingly. "Do you think I believed them?"

Ironhide hesitated. Auri usually answered direct questions; this deflection had to mean something else was going on. "I'm not sure." He said after a moment. "Did you?"

Auri had a sinking feeling. She'd been hoping Ironhide would think that she hadn't believed the twins. She'd been hoping the laughing smile would throw him off. How should she answer this?

Prowl eyed the computer screen with a sense of doom. When his subordinate had paused, he'd realized that she had believed the twins. And then he'd realized that he'd not clarified whether the creature in question was real or fictitious.

"Did you?" Ironhide asked Auri, growing serious.

Auri nodded. Then she felt tears well up in her optics because it was a silly thing to believe, and because she'd been having a rough day, and because so many things were rough, and greatly because Prowl could get in trouble for it. He'd not said that they were made-up, and of course the twins had acted like they were real.

"Oh, little one," Ironhide sat up from his lounging and took Auri into his arms. "What is going on?"

Auri hid her face against his chest; she was delaying, seriously hoping to come up with an answer that would satisfy her guardian and the medic without getting Prowl into trouble. He didn't need any more trouble.

Prowl left the computer and came over cautiously.

"I believe it is partially my fault." He said. All optics and eyes turned to him except for Auri's. She shut hers tightly, wincing. He'd just walked into it, just asked for it. _Honestly, Commander, if you'd waited just a minute, I would have tried to spare you this…! _

"And how it that?" Ratchet asked.

Prowl shifted his right door-wing. "I did not specify whether the creature in question was real or fic-" He broke off and darted to the other room.

"Did you make any threatening moves?" Ironhide asked Ratchet.

"Nope. Did you?"

"I raised an optic-ridge." Ironhide said drily.

"He can be paranoid sometimes." Ratchet said with a shrug.

"I'll say." Ironhide set Auri down and went into the other room.

"That may take a while." Ratchet said to the femmes.

"Yeah." Auri settled back down on the floor, and Amy sat on the ledge again as Ratchet sat on the floor.

"Any questions I can answer while Ironhide talks to Prowl?" The medic asked the liaison with a bit of a smile.

Amy smiled back at him. "Where do I start?"

"You start at the very beginning, a very good place to start," Auri said in a sing-song voice, repeating words she heard in a musical.

Amy smiled up at the bot. She hadn't even thought that the Transformers would watch earth's movies or pay attention to its songs. This was kind of cool.

"When you read, you begin with A, B, C…" Auri continued, noting the human's pleasure. If the person liked it, she would keep doing it.

"Okay, okay." Ratchet said. "Let's not encourage this too far, Agent Sora."

Amy laughed at the medic. "Alright." She said, "Oh!" she said, remembering something as Auri gazed up at Ratchet. "Age."

"Uh-huh…?" this was always interesting to confuse the humans with.

"Auri said she was five, fifteen, and twenty… how did she come up with that?"

"Oh." This was different from the usual age questions. This was a little more detailed and technical. "Well," he began, "We would put her basic mental age at … about the mid teens, roughly, I think. It's pretty difficult since we are quite different from humans. You have to understand that, first of all."

"Alright."

"Okay. She has the physical maturity of about a…" he eyed the femme-ling who was paying him keen interest. She was always curious to hear about herself. "Well, she's not physically fully grown, but she could…" he needed to put this delicately. "She's physically rather like a thirteen year old human." He decided that would be the best way to put it. "For mental and emotional, it varies according to experience. Like 'Hide said, we're not like a fully programmed computer; we're learning. She started learning about paper-work at an early age, so she's like a young adult when it comes to that. –because she's had experience. If we were going to teach her something new, she'd have to go through a learning process again; then she would be more like a child. She wouldn't be childish about it unless things got extremely bad, but she'd certainly feel some childish feelings. She's old enough, though, to figure out how to handle most ordinary things. You … treating her how you did was a completely new situation that she'd had absolutely no experience in, so that's why we had her in here bawling like a sparkling."

"A sparkling?"

"That's a baby Transformer."

"Oh." Wait, they had babies? Her eyes widened.

"Okay?" Ratchet asked, smiling a bit at her startled expression.

"Uh, yeah, go on." She decided that her mind was completely blown for the week. They had babies.

"Younger bots' learning is compartmentalized to a certain degree. They have to reach a certain stage of cognitive growth before they began to understand that reactions to one situation can also be applied to another situation. This is why developmental games and creator or guardian interaction are so vital to a little bot's early years. If she doesn't learn certain things as a sparkling, it may hold her back for a certain period of her life. It's sort of like with neglected children among humans. They lack certain cognitive skills and must-"

Auri narrowed her optics when Ratchet said "neglected." She'd thought she'd made it very clear to him that she'd not been neglected. So why was he talking along those lines? He wasn't allowed or supposed to do that ever. It was _wrong_. She sat up and gave him a look.

"**I**_wasn't_ neglected." She said in no uncertain terms, interrupting him rudely.

Ratchet was startled by her interruption; she knew better than to interrupt him and never did so. Then he frowned, bothered by her strong reaction to the unresolved argument that he'd inadvertently brought up. "Easy, Sweet Spark, I wasn't saying that you were." He told her gently. "I was just explaining Transformer development. It applies to all of us."

"Well, I **wasn't** neglected." She repeated adamantly, narrowing her optics at him.

"I wasn't saying that you were." Ratchet said again, puzzled by her refusal to accept his words the first time.

"Alright." Auri said, backing down a little. She still wasn't completely pleased, though. Her defensive systems were ready for further battle if necessary. And she was perplexed at herself, too, wondering why it was such a touchy subject.

Ratchet leaned over and kissed her little helm. "Sorry I upset you, Auri. I didn't mean to. I love you greatly and wish never to cause you any harm of any sort."

This took care of things, and Auri smiled at him. "Love you, too."

Ratchet patted her shoulder then turned back to Amy, who was watching with puzzled concern.

"I think we can put it this way," Ratchet said, "Figuratively. It's like putting various cups and beakers of different sizes in a basin. Each little container is for different sorts of experiences and responses. They are kept separate and the bot doesn't make connections between them. Each one must be filled, and then once it overflows, then the bot understands that he or she can make connections between that one and another overflowed one. They are all different sizes; some only need a couple experiences, others need more.

"For example, one youngling I met once didn't know to say thank-you. I told her to thank me, and after that she would. But she didn't realize that she should thank other bots as well. Someone else prompted her, and then she realized that it was universal. That was a quickly learned thing. Other things may take more experiences for the bot to learn how to apply them."

"Interesting." Amy said then quickly looked over as Ironhide moving into the room caught her attention. The weapon's mech and Prowl came back into the room, Ironhide looking easy-going and Prowl looking slightly less on edge than he'd been before.

"It's alright, Commander Prowl." Auri said, hoping maybe that would help.

Prowl nodded. "So I have been told."

Ironhide smacked him upside the back of the head. "That was rude." He said. Amy found herself blinking at him in surprise again. Did he always smack other bots?

Prowl stepped away from Ironhide. "You need not regulate me. Aurion knew I meant no offence."

"Indeed, I did." Auri said, nodding.

"See?" Prowl said to the guardian. "Excuse us now. Aurion, come talk with me."

"Yes, sir." Auri rose and patted Amy on the shoulder. "I'll be back." She told her then followed Prowl to the other side of the room.

OoOooOooOoO

Prowl didn't really feel like having any sort of conversation with anybody, but he knew that Auri needed one with him. Thus, he'd taken her aside so they could talk. They sat, and he noticed that Auri gave him an all over searching look.

"What?" he asked.

"Well, you're in Med-Bay…" she said, uncertain how to explain that she'd been worried about him being seriously hurt.

"Ah." He realized what she meant. He lifted his right hand and pointed over his left shoulder with a slight, mostly repressed wince. "This shoulder is going to be sore, especially in the back, for a while. It is nothing overly serious, however; I will be back in the office before too long."

"Just as long as you are alright." Auri said, concerned about him going back to work too early.

"I will be. Ratchet will not release me until he is certain, you know. And he will post restrictions, as well."

Auri nodded. She knew that. She was still on some restrictions.

"So, Agent Sora is a day early." Prowl prompted.

Auri nodded, feeling her spark sink. She couldn't bring herself to look Prowl in the optics anymore, and she wanted to go back and hide in Ratchet's arms.

Prowl watched her reaction, a certain sense of foreboding rising as he did so. "What happened?" he asked, bracing for dreadful things.

"Prowl… I… I… everything went wrong."

"That is vague," he said slowly. "And, we are all alive, so I do not think _everything_ went wrong."

"That's not helpful!" Auri protested, upset.

"Perspective, Aurion. Look at it with a different perspective. We are alive, so we have hopes of tomorrow. Calm down and go on." He told himself that a hundreds of times; now it was time for Auri to learn it.

"Yes, sir…" Auri sighed as she answered. "Alright… I went in early for me, late for you. The office was empty and creepy, but I stayed there in case I was needed. One of the Aerialbots called while I was there and told me that the liaison was here. I didn't see her when I went out to the airstrip where he said she was. I hurried to find her, and I drove quickly…" she trailed off. "I… I… nearly ran into her when I swerved around the corner of the hanger." She stopped after that, pausing for Prowl to say something.

Prowl calmly nodded for her to go on, but inside he was groaning with despair. He never should have asked to use the computer. He should have stayed on his berth and dropped back into recharge and dealt with a nightmare instead.

Auri looked worried. "Well, after …that, she yelled at me, really meanly. An-and the data-pad that I had wasn't working, so I needed another one. I intended to leave her at a coffee shop, but she wouldn't let me, so I had to take her with me to the quarters."

Prowl's optics shifted to Ironhide for a second. The big mech was smiling as he answered some question that Amy had asked. Prowl hoped this wasn't going where he thought it was.

Auri didn't dare take her optics off her Commander, but she knew where he was looking. Then he looked back to her, expecting her to go on.

"Well…" her vocalizer felt slightly jammed up. She really, really didn't want to cry in front of Prowl. She knew she'd done it before, but she didn't want to again.

Prowl waited thirty seconds. It was a rather long time to wait. "Well…?" he prompted. It was going where he'd feared it would.

Auri opened her mouth, but felt quite choked up even more. She'd been entrusted with this job and had made a serious, embarrassing mistake. And Prowl had been counting on her to do well. She didn't want him to be disappointed with her. That would just be too much unhappiness for one day.

Prowl shifted a door-wing, the one on the right, not on his sore side, in uncomfortable uncertainty. He hoped she wasn't going to cry. He shifted his optics towards Ironhide. He calculated that the guardian would probably inflict a kick in the after-plating, or at least a smack upside the head, if he thought Prowl had made Auri cry. And he hadn't made Auri cry. He didn't even want to do such a thing! She considered him a friend, and he would not betray such undeserving confidence. Furthermore, she was his subordinate, and as such she and her well-being were his responsibility. This included her emotional well-being.

He knew he had to encourage her.

He reached over and touched her hand. "Aurion, it…" how was he supposed to comfort her? He hesitated. Maybe he could just reassure her that it would be alright. Would it be alright, though? He wasn't sure.

He hesitated a little more then he spoke gently.

"Aurion, I do not know what has happened to cause you to fear speaking to me, or if I have done something to cause this apprehension. I would not have you be afraid to tell me anything. Ever. I am here to help you, not to hurt you; there should be no fear here. If there is, you need to inform me so that I may work to dispel it."

Auri heaved a deep shaky sigh and pulled her hand away to press against an optic. "Y-you didn't do anything. I just m-messed up."

"That is alright." Prowl said, clasping his hands in his lap. "Everybody messes up from time to time. I have messed up, too. What happened?" he asked, hoping maybe this would get her to continue the story.

Auri whimpered a little.

"It is alright, Aurion." Prowl told her, "You may tell me; it is not going to hurt you. What happened?"

"Ironhide…" she trailed off.

"Ironhide… what…?" Prowl asked gently when she didn't continue. The bad feeling was confirmed.

"Ironhide was there, and Chromia was, too." Auri said, hiding her face almost completely with her hands and arms. "And they weren't expecting me to come back for a couple hours…! They were kissing like no tomorrow…!"

Prowl's door-wings twitched. Well, his left side was sore, so he lowered the left wing, but the right one twitched up and back. He quickly settled them again, though. Auri was clearly worried about his reaction to this news, and he didn't want to fulfill her apprehensions, he wanted to allay them. He knew she read his body language like a book, and the severely cocked doors would mean he was deeply disturbed.

"'m s-sorry…" she whimpered into her hands, not even looking at him. She knew she'd failed.

Prowl stared very hard his hands. He needed a data-pad to hold and finger, to glance at and hide behind. But he didn't have one, and it couldn't be helped.

What could be helped, though, -what absolutely had to be helped- was Auri. She was upset with herself far more than was ever necessary. Prowl considered various ways to answer. And he calculated the ways Auri could misinterpret each of them. There were many, and they were not good. And they would not result in a positive outcome. He needed his something…

Auri was upset with herself and focused on that for a while. Then she realized that Prowl was taking a very, very long time to answer. It had too bad, extremely bad, if he was taking so long to reply. It must be so bad that he had to think of a very stern speech.

She didn't want a very stern speech. Things had gone badly enough without getting one. The mere thought of getting a lecture from the Commander was enough to drive her to tears.

Prowl's optics widened in horror as she whimpered and started to cry. His wings twitched back and up, both of them, and he winced at the pain in the left one.

"Au... Au-Auri, I… I-I did not say anything yet." He stuttered in dismay. He darted a frantic glance over at The Overprotective and Aggressive Guardian and saw that everybody was looking his way. He made a motion of helpless cluelessness with his hand and then turned back to Auri. "Auri, I did not say anything yet." He said again. He looked down to where a data-pad should have been in his hands. They were empty. It was frustrating.

Auri hiccupped and tried to quit crying for a moment. That didn't work, though and she continued with her tears.

Prowl was painfully aware of the audience as he mentally readied himself for his next action. They were all watching him. He was being judged and analyzed. Still, he had to do what he had to do.

"Stop crying and listen to me." He ordered firmly.

Auri sort of gasped and froze; fortunately, this stopped the crying.

"Look at me." Prowl ordered next.

Auri looked at him, meeting his optics. His optics really were the very bluest, truest blue optics she'd ever beheld except for Prime's. And they were rather mesmerizing, too.

"I…" His subspace pullers were disabled so he couldn't even take out a spare data-pad just to hold. "I am in no way upset or displeased with you." He said. He glanced down. He'd never realized how used to having a data-pad to look at he was. He looked back up at Auri, who was calming down quite a bit. "I am not disappointed, either." He added. "I…" he glanced down again. F_ace it, mech; you don't have a data-pad_.

Auri moved, and Prowl looked up, fearing she was going to hide her face again.

She had no intention of doing this, though. Once she'd turned her whole focus to Prowl instead of fretting, she'd seen him look down for his data-pad. Then she'd realized suddenly how much he glanced down at his data-pads when talking about something difficult. It was like Ironhide inspecting his cannons while addressing about a complicated subject. And the mech was always more at ease when he had something to study while he composed his sentences.

Auri took out her data-pad and offered it to Prowl.

The gesture surprised him for a moment. Then he almost half-smiled as he took it.

Then he stared at it. He blinked his optics. He'd forgotten that it had butterfly and flower stickers on the edges of it. He looked back at Auri.

She smiled at him hopefully.

He half-smiled back. "Thank-you," he said softly, glancing down at the data-pad. He looked back at Auri. "When I said to not introduce Agent… Sora to Ironhide and Chromia at the same time and not until later, it was just a suggestion. It was not an order. I was outlining an ideal situation, but very,_ very_ few things _ever_ happen in an ideal way."

"I think more things happen ideally than you think." Auri said, the optimist having to correct the pessimist.

"Who just recently said that everything went wrong?" Prowl asked, raising an optic-ridge.

Auri paused. She lowered a wing. "I did. But, I was exaggerating. You actually believed what you said. I didn't completely believe me."

"Say 'myself,' not 'me.' We are deviating from the topic." Prowl said, tapping the back of the data-pad lightly.

"Very well. Not everything goes ideally." Auri responded, getting back on Prowl's track.

"You can work to do your best, but sometimes things are not within your power. Then you just have to accept them, roll with the punches, and keep on doing what you can do." he pointed to her, "You will make mistakes. I will not be disappointed unless you give up." He paused, looking at her earnest expression. "And I know you will not let me down. You have shown me that." This made her smile. And her smile almost made him smile.

"I will do my best." Auri told him, happy that she still had his confidence.

Prowl rubbed his thumb over one of the stickers on the data-pad then looked back at Auri. "I think we need to redo our previously made plans. Shall we do so now?"

Auri nodded. With Prowl there to help her, she ready for anything.


	59. Chptr 59, Energon, Twins, Ultra Magnus,

So... the twins are mild jerks in part of this chapter... sorry, twin-fans. And they'll be bigger jerks later, but I'll explain it in a following chapter. Okay?

Warning: Contains fluff towards the end! Don't drink water, milk, juice, coffee, or any other liquids while reading that part._ If you fail to heed this warning and you stain a shirt, drown a cat, choke yourself, glitch your non-liquid-proof laptop, or encounter any other such mishap..._ I shall NOT be held accountable, for I did warn you beforehand. ;)

* * *

Chapter 59

**Energon, Twins, Ultra Magnus, Subspace, and More  
**

Ironhide had hung around while Auri had graded his students' tests, but then he'd had to leave. It was lunch time now, and Auri and her liaison were still at Med-Bay. They had been there working things out and rescheduling and getting updated and instructed by Prowl.

Auri lay on her back and held her Energon cube up with both hands, admiring the way the light filtered through the energy within the cube.

"Energon… the best thing for Transformers' tanks." She said happily, purring a little.

Ratchet shook his head with amusement. His little femme-ling always had to enjoy her Energon slowly.

"What's it made of?" Amy asked, eyeing the cube curiously as she unwrapped her second Panini of the day.

"Energy…" Auri said, grinning.

"If you like it so much, why don't you sit up and down it." Ratchet suggested.

"Because there is no rush." Auri said simply as she gazed over at her adored medic with loving optics.

"I believe your sluggishness does not appeal to Ratchet's sense of promptness. Go on and drink it." Prowl said, looking down at his med-grade cube and wishing it was something else.

Auri rolled over and took a drink of her Energon. "Happy?" she asked Ratchet after she wiped her mouth.

He smiled at her. "Now I want to know why Prowl gets results when I don't."

"Ummm…." Auri cocked a wing and looked over at Prowl, considering various ways she could tease the medic.

"I believe our tactics are different." Prowl said. "I gave her a direct order there. You simply hinted. My way works better."

Ratchet opened his mouth to retort, but two bots banging through the door distracted him.

"Hiya, Ratch!" Sunny greeted.

"Miss us?" Sided asked, spinning around on his wheels.

"Like a headache." Ratchet said dryly.

"Awwww, we're hurt. Deeply hurt." Sunny teased. "Don't yah like us?"

Amy had immediately taken notice of the two new bots, and she had a feeling that they were the twins. They were energetic.

A third bot came in just after them, a much, much, much bigger bot. He was even bigger than Ironhide. He was … not as energetic. He seemed rather stern.

"He doesn't like your pranks and tricks." He answered for Ratchet.

"Ahem." Ratchet said. "Go sit down and be quiet while I talk with Ultra Magnus."

"Alright." Sunny rolled away. Sides skated after him. They skimmed over to where Auri was and plopped down on either side of her.

"Well, did you miss us?" Sunny whispered.

"Ratchet said to be quiet," Auri replied, bothered by their impudence in front of her liaison, whom they were supposed to impress.

"Quiet means quiet, not absolutely silent. We can talk, just not loudly." Sunny explained in hushed tones.

Sides nodded. "Wouldn't you concur, Prowl?" he asked.

Prowl hesitated. "I might at certain times under certain circumstances." He replied carefully. There was no way he was going to let the twins talk him into a trap.

"See?" Sunny asked. "Did you miss us?"

Auri emptied her Energon cube. "Well," she said, "Yes, for a few minutes." This pleased the twins considerably.

"What's this?" Sides asked motioning to Amy.

"Agent Amy Sora. She's here instead of Mariah Phillips." Auri said, so pleased to introduce her liaison that she missed the twins' impolite usage of "what" instead of "who."

"Ooooo…" "Huh…" the twins looked her over and then seemed to lose interest.

"Twins." Prowl said when he saw Amy move ever so slightly. Auri frowned at the twins, wondering what was wrong with them.

"Yeah?" they both said, turning their attention to the patrol-bot.

"Manners." Prowl reminded them. And for the first time it bothered him that he had to remind them to be polite to a liaison.

"Sometimes I think he really thinks he's Soundwave and gets to use monosyllables." Sunny commented to his twin.

"Who's Soundwave?" Amy asked.

"Although, it could just be a communicating disorder common to higher officers," Sides suggested.

Auri glanced around uncomfortably. "Soundwave is a Decepticon." She told Amy.

"He is a communications officer," Prowl said, seeing Auri shrug. "He is extremely powerful and intelligent. And he never wastes words, using as few as possible to convey his meaning."

"Monosyllables preferable." Sides said in monotones. "Polysyllabic words: use sparingly. Sentences: short."

"Creepy!" Sunny yelped. "But that's how he is. Creepy, majorly creepy. And totally sparing of long sentences."

"This is Sunstreaker." Prowl said to Amy, motioning to the yellow twin as he realized that introductions had be cut off.

"Hi." Sunny said, not looking pleased to meet her.

"He generally goes by 'Sunny.'"

"Yeah." Sunny looked around the Med-Bay

"And Sideswipe is his twin."

"Hi." Sides looked even less pleased than Sunny had.

"And he generally goes by 'Sides.'" Prowl said, narrowing his optics at the twins. He was going to speak to them sternly when they had the privacy.

"Yeah..." Sunny said. Sides nodded. Auri looked hurt. Prowl was definitely going to speak to them.

Amy found this very uncomfortable. She had enjoyed the several hours that she'd spent with Ratchet, Auri, and Prowl up to this time. Now this wasn't enjoyable.

"Alright." Ratchet said coming over.

"They're being rude." Auri said pointing at the twins with a frown.

Ratchet patted her shoulder. "Ultra Magnus is here, why don't you and Amy go on with him and get her settled in to her apartment."

Auri sighed, sad about the twins.

"Alright?" Ratchet prompted. He was going to lecture the twins up a wall once they had the privacy.

"Yes, sir." Auri said. "Come on, Agent Amy. Magnus has sorted things out for you." She rose and picked up the laptop cases as she spoke.

Amy got up, dusting a few crumbs from her lap. "It was nice to meet you," she said looking up at Ratchet.

"You, too." Ratchet said, nodding. "I'll probably see you later."

"Aright." She looked forward to that.

"I will see you later as well." Prowl said, "There are several more things that we will need to go over."

"That sounds good." She said. She glanced over at the twins. They weren't looking at her at all.

She looked up to Auri to let her know she was ready. Auri motioned her to follow, and they went over to the massive blue, white, and red mech who was waiting near the door.

Amy tilted her head back to look at him. Auri gave introductions.

"This is Agent Amy Sora. Agent Amy, this in Commander Ultra Magnus."

"Pleased to meet you, Ultra Magnus." Amy said, wondering if there were any bots bigger than he was.

"Likewise. I hope your stay will go well." He said. What a voice! "Are you ready to see your quarters?" he asked politely.

"Yes, thank-you."

He nodded to Auri, and she transformed into a car. Auri opened a door, and Amy got in.

"Watch," Auri whispered to Amy as she backed away from Ultra Magnus.

The massive mech initiated his transform sequence and began shifting into truck form. Amy's eyes widened and her mouth fell into an O.

"Dude…" she breathed, forgetting to use professional mannerisms as she gazed at the shiny Mack big-rig settling down on its wheels.

"Let's roll." Auri said, delighted with Amy's reaction of awe.

Ultra Magnus drove out of Med-Bay, the little Audi TT following dwarfed by his size.

The drive was uneventful, but Amy was in a constant state of amazement. Many of the buildings were huge, and everything was so streamlined and clean. It was like some city from the future, or something. And every now and then, she saw massive robotic beings talking with each other or walking down the street. And there were tanks and military Jeeps, too, and nice sedans, and the occasional sports car.

Then the big truck in front pulled up to a neat little condo complex.

Auri parked behind him and let Amy out. Once Amy had stepped clear, Auri transformed. Amy jumped and darted behind Auri when Ultra Magnus shifted to transform. Then she peeked out from behind the little bot and watched the big one.

He stood and smiled down at her.

She smiled sheepishly.

"It takes a while to get used to, I've heard." He said understandingly.

Amy nodded, glad that he understood, glad that he was more friendly than the twins.

He crouched down, and, seemingly out of nowhere, he produced a thick brown envelope and held it out to her. "This has maps, phone numbers, and instructions, and the apartment key is in there as well." He said.

"Th-thank-you." She stepped forward, well aware of how huge and heavy he was, and took the envelope. She opened it enough to peek in and see the key. It was there.

"I'll bring a base car around for you to drive once it's finished in the shop. It just needed a check up, nothing serious." He added as if he thought she might think she'd be getting a bad car because he's said "shop."

"Alright, that sounds great. Thank-you." Amy smiled up at him reassuringly. She wasn't worried about the car at all.

"You are welcome." He said. Then he rose and walked off, shaking the ground just a little.

Auri grinned with delight at the look on Amy's face and giggled a little. "Most people are all used to that." She said, "I like how amazed you are."

It was an odd complement, but it was very sincere. Amy smiled up at the little bot. "I like how open you are." She said thoughtfully.

Auri liked this. Then she looked at the condo. "Better make sure the quarters have everything you need." She said, suddenly wondering what humans needed for life. She'd never thought much about humans, other than how to interact with them.

"Alright." Amy went off, going up the short bit of sidewalk, climbing three steps, and unlocking the door and opening it. The apartment was neat and simple, and clean, too. She went in and gave it a quick inspection. There was a little kitchen, a living-room with a little office area, then upstairs there was a bathroom, and a bedroom with a great walk-in closet. She checked the bathroom supplies; it wasn't lacking.

She went back out to the front door and paused.

Auri was standing there intently watching a small bird peck at a something in the little area of grass before the condo. Her optics turned to the human, and she smiled. She shifted a little and the bird flew. She watched it for a moment then turned back to Amy. "It is all good?" she asked.

"Yes, it is. It's perfect." Amy replied. "I… just need my luggage."

"Oh…" Auri had no idea where that was except for the two laptop cases that she had. "Here," she pulled the cases from subspace and offered them to Amy. "I will find the others for you and make sure they get to you, alright?"

Amy nodded mutely, staring at her cases. "Wh… where were these?" she motioned to the cases.

"Subspace." Auri said, giving her a surprised look. Didn't everybody know about subspace?

"Okay." Amy said, dazed. "Um, thank-you. I'll see you later."

"Later." Auri said. She transformed with flare and zoomed off.

Amy went back and dropped onto the couch. Subspace? She'd said Subspace. And she said it like everybody used it.

The robots used subspace.

It was incredible!

Subspace.

Oh, yes, and they had babies, too.

Amy set up her laptops in the little office and began working on typing her experiences. She worked for a little while, then a rap sounded on the door, and she jumped in surprise, nearly falling out of her chair.

Calming herself, she went to the door and opened it. Auri was there, crouching with the suitcases in her hand.

"Ultra Magnus found the luggages, but I got to bring them ." Auri said, pleased with the success.

Amy smiled but didn't laugh at Auri's mistake. "Thank-you!" she said.

Auri gave her the cases then had to go attend to other things.

"Luggages…" Amy repeated, smiling again.

Amy spent a couple hours typing on her laptop after this, recording all that had happened. Then she felt tired and went to her room and lay down for a nap.

OooOoOoOooO

The powerful rumble of a diesel big-rig right outside the window woke Amy from a peaceful sleep. She jumped up, confused for a moment, then calmed down as she recalled where she was. Quickly, she went over to the window and looked out.

There was Ultra Magnus in truck mode. And she supposed she knew why they called him "Ultra." She smiled. Then she cocked her head. He was towing a nice four-door sedan behind. She wondered if he needed help with the chains or something, but her answer came before long. He could handle it all by himself. He lowered the ramp. Force fields and extendable prods did the trick, and the chains dropped off the car. Then he tilted the ramp a bit and pulled forward, rolling the car off with a conveyor belt since its brakes where on. Very nicely done. She was impressed.

He pulled away and transformed, breathtakingly, Amy thought. Then he stepped towards the condo, looking straight at her through the window. It was a little unnerving, but he wasn't intending it to be.

Amy opened the window.

"Your car for the visit," the massive mech said, motioning to it.

"Thank-you,"

"And here is a key and a spare key," he extended his hand, and there on his first finger tip lay two keys.

Amy reached and took them. It was sort of like pulling a magnet off a refrigerator door.

"Magnetized?" she asked.

He nodded. "It there anything else you will be needing?"

"Not that I can think of."

"Very well. Call if you need anything."

"Thank-you," she said again as he stepped away.

"We are here to serve." He said, then transformed and rumbled away.

"Wow…" She wandered downstairs to put the spare key in the desk drawer.

OoOOoOoOOoO

Auri had spent the morning with Amy, and the plan was for her to spend several hours in the office with Ultra Magnus after they'd left Amy at her condo.

The luggage had been easy to track down, and Auri had delivered it then returned to the office. It always seemed strange to have Ultra Magnus there instead of Prowl. She almost didn't like the change.

It was alright, though. Work had to be done. Auri worked at her computer, and Ultra Magnus worked at Prowl's desk. It was quiet for a while, then Auri broke the silence when Ultra Magnus moved the phone to the other side of the desk.

"That does not go there." She said quickly but quietly.

Ultra Magnus looked up, surprised. He hadn't even realized that she was paying any attention to what he'd been doing.

"I know it doesn't go there when Prowl is here." He answered firmly, "But it is more convenient for me, and I am the one working here."

Auri cocked a door-wing in disapproval. "I will hear about it if you do not put it back in the proper place when you are done."

"The phone's location is not part of your responsibility." Ultra Magnus said, raising an optic-ridge.

Auri disagreed with him. And it showed on her face.

She was a subordinate, though. She had to take orders and obey senior officers. She didn't want to. Prowl's office was supposed to be a certain way. Ultra Magnus was messing it up. Prowl wouldn't like, so she didn't like it.

She knew she shouldn't argue. She resented this.

Ultra Magnus saw the conflict in the younger, smaller bot. Was she really going to argue about the phone's location? Was he? Was it even an issue? It wasn't about the phone, he realized. It was about who was in control and in charge.

"Come here." He motioned her over with a finger.

Auri wasn't willing, but she went over to stand before the desk anyway.

"I understand that you want to keep things 'just right' for Commander Prowl." Ultra Magnus said more gently, "I appreciate your strong loyalty. I will do my best to put things back in order when I'm done, but for now we do it my way."

Auri looked away. Ultra Magnus couldn't fire her from her job; only Prowl could do that.

"Understood?" Ultra Magnus watched her expectantly.

"Understood..." Auri said reluctantly. She supposed Prowl wouldn't be too pleased if she disobeyed Magus.

"Auri," Ultra Magnus said sternly. He knew when someone was balking.

"Yes, sir?" the tone suddenly set her on edge. She looked up at him.

"Prowl expects you to be obedient. I expect nothing less. I will take no more arguments or resistance from you. Is that perfectly clear?"

"Yes, sir." She said, nodding her head.

"Good. Return to your computer work."

"Yes, sir."

Ultra Magnus watched her go, hating to be so stern with the femme-ling, but knowing that he had to be. He hid a sigh and returned to his email.

Auri worked diligently. She didn't like admitting it, but Ultra Magnus was right. She had to work under him just as she worked under Prowl.

After a while, she finished up a report and transferred it to a data-pad for her commanding officer. She stepped down from her area with the data-pad and went over to the desk.

Ultra Magnus looked up from the notice he was studying.

"This is complete; I'm turning it in for review." Auri said softly, wishing she could undo her previous insubordination.

"Thank-you." Ultra Magnus said automatically. He saw that she was back in a respectful mood. "And I do mean thank-you." He told her sincerely.

Auri had been turning to go back to her computer, but she stopped to meet his optics. He gave a little smile, and she returned it in full and came around to his side of the desk.

He leaned over to receive her hug. She gave his neck a warm squeeze and planted a kiss on his cheek, much to his surprise.

"Thank-you for looking after this office while Prowl's gone." She said then scampered back to her computer.

Ultra Magnus was surprised for a moment, then he smiled and knew he ought not be surprised. Auri was usually sweet to him and seemed to consider him something like an uncle and always treated him that way. There was no reason why a small argument should end that. And he was glad of it. He liked having the little femme around.

OoOoOoOoO

Auri headed back to her quarters after she finished her shift at the office. She wanted to stop by to check on Amy, but Prowl had said to let her agent to have a while by herself to get settled in, adjust, and write things. And Prowl's word was law.

Auri paused at the door to her quarters. It had been awful, the liaison catching her guardians that way. Personally, she didn't mind them making out. She had been startled the first few times, but now she was used to it. And they did have some discretion despite being rather open.

Well.

Auri keyed in the code and the door opened, and she went in.

Chromia was lounging on the couch with a data-pad in her hands. "Hey, Little One." she greeted with a fond smile. She wondered if they'd talk about the earlier scene, but decided she'd let the femme-ling make that call.

"Hi." Auri went over and climbed onto the couch to squeeze beside her. Chromia curled a little to make room for the small femme, as well as to better cuddle with her.

"How's the work going?" she asked, putting away her data-pad and slipping an arm around her daughter.

"I argued with Ultra Magnus in the office." the little femme said with a sigh.

Chromia didn't know what to say, so she kissed Auri's head to reassure her that she loved her.

"We got over it, and then things went well." Auri added, "But it was still frustrating. I wish I could behave well all the time."

Chromia's first impulse was to chuckle and say "I think many of us wish that for ourselves, Sweet Spark." But she didn't.

She realized that that would be shrugging off something Auri was concerned about. And she didn't want to do that; she wanted to address Auri's needs even if it meant dealing with a deeper subject. She reanalyzed what was going on, figured out what Auri needed, and put her head against Auri's sympathetically. "I know you do," she said softly, "But I think you are working to do your best. It takes time, ...lots and lots of time, and practice, too. Always know that I have confidence in you, and know that I'm sure you will turn out just fine."

Auri was quiet, thoughtfully considering this.

"Also," Chromia added,

"Yeah...?"

"I love you. Always and forever."

Auri sighed a contented sigh, encouraged and reassured by Chromia's words, and snuggled a little closer. "...Love you, too." she murmured after a moment.

Chromia smiled, touched as she always was when Auri said those words. And she smiled, too, because she was relieved that that hadn't been so hard to talk about.

They were quite for a little while. Then Chromia cautiously broke the silence.

"'Hide told me about Agent Amy Sora," she said, "Did you get her quarters' situation figured out?"

Auri nodded. "Prowl and Ultra Magnus took care of it, and I took her there."

"Good..." She'd always avoided liaisons, so she wasn't sure what else she could ask about.

"She's nice." Auri added, shifting to look up at Chromia's face.

Chromia smiled at her. "Well, I'm glad of that. She could've been a real pain with all that happened today." she commented.

Auri giggled. "I told Prowl that 'everything' went wrong, and he said that couldn't be true because we were still alive."

Chromia shouted with laughter. "Ah," she said after that, "Prowl. What a perspective he has."

"And then later he said nothing ever worked out ideally." Auri added with a grin, knowing that Prowl amused Chromia to no end. And she was well rewarded with more chuckles.

"Auri, I'm glad that you two work so well together." she said, still chuckling. "He'd drive me up a wall."

Auri giggled at the thought.

"Don't laugh at the prospect of me suffering." Chromia protested.

Auri giggled more to tease her.

"Bratty, bratty!" Chromia exclaimed, sitting up with a playful twinkle in her optics.

Auri squealed and rolled off the couch to dart away. Time for a game! Chromia sprang up after her, caught her, and scooped her up and back onto the couch.

"Ahhh!" Auri yelled, trying not to laugh as Chromia gave her a gentle play swat. "NO, no, no, no, no...!" She kicked and squirmed and got on her back. She paused, grinning up challengingly at Chromia.

Chromia had that roguish grin that she always had when she played. She studied Auri carefully, planing her next move.

Auri smirked then bounced up and dove off the couch, aiming at Chromia's midsection.

"WHOA!" Chromia yelped in surprise as they crashed onto the floor.

"BAh-hahahahaha!" Auri laughed evilly. "I'm on top!"

"Not for long-!" Chromia started tickling Auri's sides, making the femme-ling squeal with laughter and squirm to avoid her. The femme guardian laughed, enjoying the time with her little one.

"Aiyyyyy... defeeeeat...!" Auri wailed, rolling and sprawling on the floor in surrender as she kept giggling.

"Hah!" Chromia sat up and smirked triumphantly.

Auri hopped up. "Better watch it." she warned, grinning. "I was bluffing."

Chromia chuckled. "Giving away your secrets?"

Auri planted her fists on her hips. "Uh-huh."

"Not a good idea. You've always gotta keep the other one guessing."

"Always?" Auri asked seriously.

"Just when you're fighting." Chromia explained. "Although... it can be kinda fun to keep your spark-mate guessing." she added with a thoughtful little smirk, "But only for a little while in a game." She advised seriously, but the thought made her chuckle.

"Oh..." Auri absorbed this thoughtfully. She came over and sat down by Chromia."I want a spark-mate some day... but not now." she confided. "I like how things are right now and want them to stay this way for a long, long time."

Chromia put her arms around her young femme. "I like how things are right now, too, and would love for them to stay like this." she said, and her spark was warmed by the fact that Auri was so content and happy living on earth with her and Ironhide.

It was good.

* * *

Oh... just so nobody gets any ideas...There is no bot/human pairing in my universe. Yes, Amy does appear to be drooling over Ultra Magnus, but it's just in the way that somebody drools over a stunning vehicle. It is not in the way somebody drools over a hot guy.

And now for a little fun for those who review...

_First Reviewer: Gets to be Second-in-Command and plans the meeting_

_ Second Reviewer: Is tacticians specialist and gives out complicated handouts in the meeting_

_ Third Reviewer: Comes late to the meeting but has such a marvelous excuse that we're all jealous _

_ Fourth Reviewer: Forgets the meeting and has a fabulous time at the pub_

_ Fifth Reviewer: Has all the clever remarks that saves us from becoming bored during the meeting_

_ Sixth Reviewer: Folds a paper airplane out of the handout and flies it into the Seventh Reviewer _

_ Seventh Reviewer: Eyes the Sixth Reviewer and plans marvelous revenge_

_ Eighth Reviewer: Asks complicated questions that make us think a little harder _

_ Ninth Reviewer: Brings in Energon for break and is the hero of the day_

_ Tenth Reviewer: Subtly pours Energon on Sunny and blames Sides _

_ Eleventh Reviewer: Stops the fight between Sunny and Sides and gets praised by Prowl _

_ Twelfth Reviewer: Has a an ingenious plan and gets us out of the meeting a whole hour early _

... and if I get more than twelve reviews on this chapter (I'll be delighted!) I'll think up more fun stuff. ;)

Okay, go Review...! :)


	60. Chapter 60, Ratchet, Twins, Elita

Okay, wow! So, I ended up with seventeen reviewers instead of the anticipated twelve! Dude! Nice! Here you are, and then I'll get on with my other author's note and the story. :)

First Reviewer: **Ardikani4** gets to be Second-in-Command and plans the meeting (YAY! Kani! I knew you'd make a good second in command! XD).

Second: **Flareup4Ratchet** is tacticians specialist and gives out complicated handouts in the meeting (No fine print please! …and illustrations are a plus!).

Third: **MISCrasyaboutfanfics** comes late to the meeting but has such a marvelous excuse that we're all jealous (Arg, Mary! Why do you do that to us?) *pout-face*

Fourth: **Lunar Mist** forgets the meeting and has a fabulous time at the pub (*Gasps* Jen! I wouldn't have thought you'd be the type… O_O).

Fifth: **Phaedra39 h**as all the clever remarks that saves us from becoming bored during the meeting (Thank-you, thank-you sooooo much! :) Hehehe… that one about Starscream was funny!).

Sixth: **Qualeo** folds a paper airplane out of the handout and flies it into the Seventh Reviewer (Naughty! And… I think Prowl jussssst made a rule about that… (Everybody else was amused, though)).

Seventh: **15** eyes the Sixth Reviewer and plans marvelous revenge (Yikes! These two new reviewers are trouble makers!) (Just kidding, glad to have you).

Eighth: **DeathByLackOfMusic** asks complicated questions that make us think a little harder (Splendid! Get some more music for this brilliant person!).

Ninth: **Poiseninja** brings in Energon for break and is the hero of the day (YAY! *glug, glug* ...oh, just watch out for those people who spill stuff on electronics...).

Tenth: **writergurl616 **subtly pours Energon on Sunny and blames Sides (You do know Sunny is going to plot revenge on you, don't you?) (You're up to it, though, right?).

Eleventh: **Thalanee** stops the fight between Sunny and Sides and gets praised by Prowl (Now everybody is jealous. Do you know how hard it is to get Prowl's praise?).

Twelfth: **Noella50881 **has an ingenious plan and gets us out of the meeting a whole hour early (I knew you were a clever one! XD).

Thirteenth: **Mercedes Wolfcry**finds another issue that needs to be addressed, putting us back in the meeting (although we gripe about it, it will save our lives, thank-you.)

Fourteenth: **Jacqueline Walker** gets bored and tries to pass a note Auri, but Prowl intercepts it. (Eep! *gasp* You should have encrypted it first! O_O!).

Fifteenth: **A wiccan **successfully passes a note to Chromia while poor Jackie is getting The Look from Prowl. (So you didn't caught but you still shoulda encrypted it! Always encrypt your notes, folks!).

Sixteenth: **Britaniah** finds a rubber band and randomly shoots it without looking... is horrified when it hits Chromia. Chromia is in a good mood, though, and only shoots the band back instead of shooting back with a tazer. (Brit, you are soooo lucky! Chromia's tazer is wicked!).

Seventeenth: **sunnyanangel **raises an eye-brow and speculates about how Ironhide would react is _she_ shot a rubber band at _him_; she decides to play it safe, though, and shoots it at Sunny instead.

"NOoooo! My painnnnt…!"

"Sunstreaker. Seriously? It was a tiny rubber thing."

"Oh. Well… it _felt_ like it could have done damage…"

* * *

**I'm a Page on facebook now!** You can "Like" me. I'll do status updates from time to time, and I'll post drawings for my stories and stuff. It's pretty private for you folks since it's a "Likeable" page instead of a "Friend" page. I won't see your stuff unless you make it public. Here's the link (Take out the spaces):

https: / www. facebook. com/ pages/ Cairistona/ 283198991745833

Or you can copy and paste the link that is on my FFN profile. Aurion Blaze is a like page on facebook as well, and you can find her from the Cairistona page.

If the searches won't come up, I "Like" the Transformers Prime facebook page, and I have commented on their album called "Transformers Prime Wallpapers" and you can find me from there. :)

Anyways, that's that. Here's the new chapter! :) Finally!

* * *

Chapter 60

**Ratchet, Twins, Elita**

Ratchet turned stern optics on the twins and Prowl. Prowl, now that Auri and Amy were gone, was ready to have at the terrible twosome, but it wasn't going to happen.

"Prowl," Ratchet said, "I said you were to be back on your berth after email and discussion with Auri. Did I not?"

"Yes, you did." Prowl said. He wasn't going to get a chance to reprimand the twins, and he knew it.

"Go on then." Ratchet told him, motioning towards the room.

Disappointed though he was, Prowl turned to go without an objection. He never argued with Ratchet in front of anybody, with the exception of Prime and Ironhide. He would have liked to argue with Ratchet, though.

He went, obeying implicitly and hiding his reluctance.

"Alright, _Twins_," Ratchet said, "Just what were you two processing when you treated Agent Sora like that?"

Prowl paused ever so slightly before going on into his room. A slight pleased smirk touched his face as he realized that Ratchet had had the same plan that he'd had. Well, he would let Ratchet do the dirty work. He still had Auri's data-pad.

He would make use of the be-stickered device until Ratchet confiscated it and returned it to Auri. Climbing onto his berth and settling comfortably on his belly, the monochromatic door-winger sighed and began to work with a contented air.

In the other room, Ratchet was frowning at the twins. They weren't answering him.

It really was a hard question that he'd asked, and they weren't sure how to word the answer. They decided that deflection might be an easier route to take.

"Why are _you_ suddenly so concerned about a liaison?" Sides asked, eying Ratchet. Ratchet had never been a friend of liaisons.

"We're here talking about you, Twins." Ratchet countered. "Not me; you. How you treated Agent Sora was incredibly rude. Not only were you showing a rotten example of an Autobot, but you also hurt Auri's feelings. You were bad friends."

Sunny and Sides exchanged guilty glances. Ratchet did have a point. "We wouldn't hurt Auri for anything…" Sunny murmured.

"Yeah." Sides agreed, observing how his wheeled foot rolled smoothly on the floor when he moved it back and forth a little.

"We're sorry." Sunny decided.

Ratchet studied them. They seemed repentant enough. He hadn't gotten give them much of a lecture, but if just a few words did the trick, he supposed that would be enough. "Alright." He said.

The twins eyed him less apprehensively.

"Well," he said, "I just need to do a final scan of each of you, and then I can officially release you from Med-Bay."

"Sounds good." Sides said quietly, and Sunny nodded.

Ratchet had the twins sit, and he scanned them. It was the slow, long scan, but they sat surprisingly still for him. Then he gave them their documents and told them that they could go.

"Thanks, Ratchet," Sunny said,

"Thanks, Ratchet" Sides echoed, and then they were both gone, the door closing almost silently behind them.

Ratchet put away his tools and went to check on Prowl.

He stuck his head in the room where the Second-in-Command was and smiled at what he saw. Prowl had nodded off into recharge while working on a data-pad, and now his face was resting against the data-pad as if on a small pillow.

The medic went over and tugged gently on the data-pad to see how deep in recharge Prowl was. Prowl's grasp was firm. Ratchet was pleased; this meant the commander was in one of the deeper states of recharge. Had he been in lighter recharge, he would have pulled back or tightened his grip. The locked fingers meant the recharge was heavy. It was rare that Prowl ever dropped into a deep recharge while in the confines of Med-Bay without Ratchet using a drug on him.

Ratchet paused. He didn't really need a deep scan of Prowl at present, but it was extremely hard to get one when he wanted or needed one. After another minute, he decided that he should take advantage of the situation. He brought a larger scanning machine over and set it up, setting it to run a thorough scan. It was a good idea. Now they wouldn't have to go through the hassle next he needed a recent scan of Prowl.

With the machine taking care of the scan, Ratchet went to check up on Elita. The femme commander was still resting as she had been since Prime brought her in early that morning. Ratchet had checked on her several times throughout the day, periodically run several scans on her, and had spent some time just visiting as well.

"How are you feeling now?" he asked gently, coming to the side of her berth.

Elita rolled over and smiled a little at him. "I am physically much better although I still feel a little tired." she answered softly. Being sick always took a lot out of her.

Ratchet put a hand on her shoulder. "You'll be back in full rev tomorrow." he said, knowing how these things went.

Elita nodded, but Ratchet's words didn't seem to encourage her as he'd intended them to.

"Is something else going on?" He asked. There was more to health than just the physical.

"Oh, Ratchet..."

'_Here is comes. You did ask._' he thought.

"I was so rotten to Auri about her calling Optimus for me after I told her to not call you." She confessed, looking down with shame. "I responded with hostility when I should have been grateful for her compassion. I should have treated her better. Especially as a femme with rank and spark-mate of a Prime. I guess my pride got in the way."

Ratchet nodded. Elita's words about herself were right, and he wasn't going to do anything to soften them.

"My pride is still an issue..." Elita murmured. "It's going to be hard to go and tell Auri that I was wrong. I dread it."

Ratchet smiled ever so slightly. He knew she dreaded it, but also knew that she would do it. "The thing that makes you a good commander, Elita, is that you will go and do it." he said gently. "Anyone can act with pride. It takes a truly strong bot to act with humility afterwards."

Elita gazed up at him thoughtfully.

"Aren't I right?" he asked, knowing that he was.

"You are." Elita said graciously. "Thank-you."

The old medic smiled then got a gentle smile from Elita in answer.

"I think you're probably recovered enough for me to release you." he said after a couple moments. He reached over and patted her belly. "You just take it easy on this tank of yours. And no high-grade or rough-housing."

Elita chuckled softly. "I'm such a party animal; I don't know how I'll be able to go without that." she teased.

"You know what I mean. If Prime-"

"I know." Elita interrupted to hush him.

"I wasn't finished." Ratchet objected.

"You don't need to." Elita said, trying to fight a blush.

"How are you and Chromia such good friends?" Ratchet asked as he moved away to get a form to fill out.

"What?" Elita gave him a quizzical look as she rose and came over to his work station.

"You blush when I start to say something. On the other hand, Chromia nearly makes _me_ blush. Now, I'm just wondering how you two get along like that?" He explained,

"It's different when it's femme-to-femme." Elita said, and it was completely true. She chuckled softly.

"Got it." Ratchet signed the release form then handed it over with a smile."There you go." he said.

"Thank-you." She checked it then turned to leave. She turned back. "For everything, thank-you."

Ratchet nodded. "Any time." he said. Then she left. She had some reports to write, and then she'd find Auri once she knew the little femme's shift at the office was over.

OoOoOoOoOoOoO

The twins had headed to their quarters after leaving Med-Bay.

They had gone quietly, an unusual thing for the twins. No blaring music, no rowdy greetings, nothing.

They had unlocked the door without jesting about booby-traps.

Now they were lounging on their couch seriously.

They hated liaisons. True, they generally made light of that type of human. They usually reverted to various pranks to annoy the liaisons and acted like rambunctious sparklings. But what lay under that mischief was deep-seated anger, resent, and pain.

Both twins had it badly.

A liaison had once been hurtfully insulting, going so far as to slander their mech-creator's name. They had been forced to just stand there, unable to defend themselves because of the setting. That had been the start. Then other things had happened and piled up as other liaisons showed up. The liaison who made a demeaning remark about Sunny's alt-mode and color. The liaison who had accused them of being wasteful of munitions. The liaison who had threatened to have their prized weapons confiscated. The liaison who had made a rude remark about Elita. The liaison who had had spoken to them like they were babies who didn't understand English. The liaison who had thought they were just robots and had treated them as dumb automatons...

They had been open to liaisons at first, but time and experiences had changed that.

And now Auri was blithely thinking that her liaison would be nice. It infuriated them. Innocent little Auri was beginning a friendship with a cruel and treacherous breed of human. Nobody was going to let them protect her, and it made them want to scream and cry. She was going to go along, thinking this agent was a friend. Then the woman would turn on her like an Energon vampire and take the light from her, hurt her. Auri deserved better than that.

Ratchet had scolded them for taking a stand against the liaison. He'd never done that before. He had to have been deceived by this new liaison. She was young and blonde, and perhaps this made her appear less dangerous to the medic. He was making a mistake, though. And he was an officer they couldn't go against.

"What are we going to, Suns?" Sides asked, his voice quiet with suppressed anger.

"I don't know." Sunny replied, "Ratchet usually sides with us. I can't believe he sided with the liaison..." he clenched a fist.

Sides growled softly with determination. "We have to prove what kind of person a liaison is to Auri before she gets hurt."

"I don't know how we can... But we will somehow." Sunny vowed, narrowing his optics.

OoOoOoOoOoOoO

Elita headed towards Ironhide and Chromia's quarters. It was later in the day. She'd finished her work, and she knew Auri would have finished at the office some time earlier.

She hoped all had gone well with Ultra Magnus. She knew the little femme was good friends with him outside the office, but she also knew they clashed over Prowl's territory. She hoped Prowl would be well soon. Ratchet had told her about the replacement liaison during one of his visits, and she knew that a new person would complicate things. But, from what Ratchet had said, it seemed like Prowl was still in control of the situation and had taught Auri well.

She hoped Auri wouldn't be too upset by the way she'd treated her earlier. Chromia would probably be there. She hoped Chromia would be calm and not jump all over her before she finished explaining herself. Chromia was her best friend, but Chromia could give a tongue-lashing if she thought it was deserved.

"Hey, femme," someone called softly, cunningly, from behind her.

She stopped and a smile crept onto her face as pleasure filled her spark. She turned. "Hey, mech." she said as Optimus stepped close and embraced her.

"You walked right past me and didn't even see me." he said, letting her go just enough to look into her face but not actually releasing her.

"I was thinking about how Chromia would respond when she found out how nasty I was to Auri this morning." She said, gazing up into the blue optics of her mech. He gazed back, thinking for a moment.

"I think she will be understanding. But... if not, I'm sure Auri will defend you valiantly." he said, teasing her ever so slightly. He knew she and Chromia were best friends.

"Optimus. Auri is full of spirit and spunk, but she's not tall enough to defend me if Chromia decides to get physical." she replied, unable to repress at soft chuckle.

He pulled her closer and whispered to her. "You need a great, strong mech to look after you." he murmured in a velvety tone.

"I like the sound of that..." She rubbed his back with her hands, causing him to purr ever so softly. He planted a kiss on her neck and another on her cheek and a third on her lips.

"Mmmm..." she loved this unexpected move from him. As a Prime, he generally refrained from kissing her in public, and this wonderful deviation made her slightly dizzy with delight. She relaxed against him... he felt so good.

"That meeting that's scheduled this evening..." he murmured.

"That one nobody is pleased about…?" She heard a number of complaints about this last minute meeting.

"Indeed,"

"What about it?" Not that she really cared, but she loved his voice and the way it tickled her audio-processors when she rested her head on his chest.

"I called it just to get out of a teleconference."

"Mm..." she smiled. She knew what was coming next. He'd done this sort of thing before.

"I'm actually going to cancel it five minutes before it begins."

Elita chuckled softly. "Devious of you." she murmured with approval.

"Don't tell anybody." He whispered.

"Our secret." She whispered back.

"So... meet me behind the conference-center at seven o'clock?" he asked.

Elita couldn't help but grin. "I'll meet you there." she said.

"Good..." He dropped his voice again, "You'll like what I have planned."

She chuckled in anticipation as he rubbed her back gently and gave her another kiss.

"W-ah-ow!" Bee yelped as he tripped backwards over a fire-hydrant. He landed with a thud on his backside, a startled look on his face as water sprayed over him.

Optimus snapped his battle mask up, and Elita gaped at Bee with surprise. He had evidently come around the corner and quickly backed away when he'd seen them.

Bee jumped to his feet then knelt and hastily worked to bend the metal on the hydrant to stop the spray, heating the metal a little so he could manipulate it better.

He rose sheepishly once the spray was reduced to a trickle. His face looked rather warm. "I… Uhm, I…wh- get maintenance." he stuttered.

Elita giggled once the young scout was out of hearing range. Optimus dropped his battle mask and smiled. "Poor little scout." he said.

"I guess we'd better part before maintenance gets here..." Elita couldn't help but smirk as she spoke.

"Yes, I guess we should." He said. If they were Ironhide and Chromia, they wouldn't have had to...

"See you at seven." she told him, as he began to walk off.

He chuckled and his optics twinkled as he turned back to wink at her. "See you at -oop-!" he broke off as he tripped on the hydrant. Bee's work on snuffing the gush of water was all canceled out. The hydrant was back to spraying a fountain of water again. "Ah..." Optimus grinned sheepishly back at Elita as he deflected the fountain from his face with his hands.

Elita covered her mouth as she giggled at him. He tried to get the water to stop as Bee had done, only the little scout had been more skillful. He grunted in exasperation. "Aw, come on,"

Elita giggled some more, delighted. It was like they were younglings again, being awkward and clumsy.

He shot her a roguish look. "You can try it if you think it's so funny."

"_I_ might just succeed." Elita teased. "Then how'd you feel?"

Optimus chuckled that wonderful deep chuckle of his. "Getting beaten by a femme isn't always a bad thing."

"I'll remind you of that next time you're creaming the femme squad on the practice field."

"Femme squad is different…" Optimus frowned at the gushing hydrant. How had Bee gotten it to stop?

Elita came over and took a blow torch from her subspace.

"Okay." Optimus said, grinning at her.

She heated the metal enough that Optimus could pinch it closed.

"Thank-you." He said. He leaned close, "We make a good team." He whispered.

"We do."

"We better go before we get caught here… we don't need maintenance running over a hydrant, too."

"'Kay." She winked at him and then hurried off. She headed onwards to Ironhide and Chromia's quarters with a smile still lingering on her face. Poor Optimus. She chuckled softly at the memory of the surprised look he'd had when he'd tripped. She loved him. She loved the rare moments when he wasn't perfectly dignified in public, too.

She stopped at the door to Ironhide and Chromia's quarters.

She hadn't thought of Ironhide. He could be there. That was an unsettling thought. She knew he'd not take her to task in front of Auri, for she had rank, but he probably would take her aside later.

There was no sense it fretting about it, though. She was going to do this, and nothing was going to stop her.

She knocked lightly on the door. Chromia opened it a couple seconds later with a laughing grin on her face.

"Hey, femme-friend." Chromia greeted cheerfully, giving her a hug. "You're wet."

"Indeed, I am."

"Come on in." Chromia said grinning at her.

Elita smiled back at Chromia and entered the quarters.

"How's it going?" Chromia asked as she pulled out and tossed a towel to Elita.

"Fairly well…" Elita said, glancing around for Auri as she dried off.

Chromia glanced around as well. "Auri was here a minute ago…" she said, sounding slightly baffled, "Auri?" she called.

No answer.

"She wasn't a teleporter last time Ratchet checked…" Chromia muttered, walking off to look in her and Ironhide's room.

Auri, well hidden under the couch, repressed the urge to giggle at Chromia's comment.

"Hm." Chromia said, coming back into the main room.

Elita raised an optic-ridge.

"She's not in there." Chromia shrugged. "Oh, well. Have a seat." She said, sprawling on the couch. She could sense that Auri was still in the quarters somewhere but decided to let the little femme play whatever little game this was if she wanted. Elita sat on the couch as well, drawing one leg up neatly and crossing her other leg over its foot. "Hide said you weren't feeling well?" Chromia asked.

Elita nodded. "I had another negative reaction to the preventative medication that Ratchet gave me." She said. She detached part of her shoulder armoring and bared her right shoulder, revealing a painful looking wound.

"Ouch." Chromia said, grimacing. "Virus encoded dagger?" she asked.

"Ratchet wasn't sure if it was viral or not, so he gave me the meds just in case. It made me sick in the tank."

"Fun." Chromia said sympathetically.

"Not much, I'll say. But, Optimus _did_ carry me to Med-Bay and told Ratchet he'd best keep me there until I was feeling much, much better."

Chromia chuckled with delight. "Decisive mech."

"Uh-huh." Elita agreed. "It's been an interesting day." she added then she laughed mischievously. "I saw him shortly before I came over here. Well, actually, I went right past him, and _he_ saw me and called me. He needed a little mech-and-femme time with me."

"In the street?" Chromia asked, both incredulous and delighted.

"In the alley." Elita chuckled. "He's not _that_ audacious."

Chromia snickered softly.

Elita snickered back. "I'm thinking only you and Hide would hug and kiss in the street."

"Kiss?"

"Totally." Elita, grinning. "More than once, _and_ in more than one place."

Auri stuck her head out from under the couch with a look of consternation. "Is this going to get graphic?" she asked.

"Auri!" Chromia exclaimed. "What _are_ you doing under there?"

"I _was_ intending to pinch your foot, but it was too far out of reach." Auri replied, wriggling out from underneath the piece of furniture with a little indignation.

Elita blinked in astonishment. Chromia laughed softly and gave Auri a hand up.

Auri climbed on the couch and settled between the two larger femmes with a contented sigh.

"Auri," Elita said, touching Auri's arm softly. "I'm sorry I was nasty with you this morning when you were trying to look after me."

Auri looked surprised. She'd not been expecting an apology.

Elita's expression was earnest and regretful. "I never should have spoken that way and given you that look." she added.

"Oh…" Auri hugged her. "Elita, I didn't hold it against you." She told the femme commander. "You were feeling awful." She moved back from the hug but kept her hands on Elita's shoulders. "I knew you didn't mean it. It's alright."

"Thank-you." Elita said softly.

"I'm just glad you're feeling better." Auri said, hugging the femme commander again.

"Oh, I am too." Elita said, her voice warm with joy and relief.

Auri let her go after a moment and settled back into her place on the couch between the two older femmes. "So, he kissed you," she prompted Elita.

Chromia chortled with amusement at her youngling.

"Just on the neck and face." Elita said, holding up a hand to let them know it was slow and easy. "And we planned a date for tonight."

"After a long, late meeting? That's… gonna be hard to swing." Chromia cautioned.

"He's a Prime." Auri said as if that answered everything.

"Yes, he is, Sweet Spark, but he's just as Cybertronian as the rest of us, and meetings after a long day can wear him out." Chromia said.

Auri shrugged with respectful doubt, but she still had a bit of a smile on her face. "You said 'can wear him out.' You didn't say 'will wear him out.'" She observed.

"Smarty." Chromia raised an optic-ridge reprovingly. "You're sounding a bit like Prowl now, calling bots on slight verbal nuances."

"High complement if she ever heard any." Elita commented as the un-repentant femme-ling grinned.

Auri smiled at Chromia and reached over to rub her ankle lovingly. "Whatever you say, My-Femme-Guardian." She said, knowing that this would melt any disapproval Chromia had of her words. She hadn't meant to be a smarty-parts, and she certainly didn't want Chromia miffed at her.

"Oh, okay." Chromia relented. The ankle-rub felt good, and she knew Auri was not intentionally being a know-it-all. She wriggled her foot at little, and Auri pulled it onto her lap so that she could give her a good ankle rub.

"Anyway…" Chromia said, "So you have a date. –which may or may not go so well-."

Elita put her hands up. "Are you some kind of pessimist?"

"Just saying… it doesn't always go well with a mech after a long hard day AND an extra meeting. And you _know_ that. I just want to make sure you _remember_ it, so you don't feel let down."

"I'll remember it." Elita assured her best friend.

Chromia rolled her optics upwards. "I've known you for ages, Elita; I can hear that unconvinced tone in your voice that says, 'Chromia doesn't know what she's talkin' about.'"

"What? No! I believe you."

"Something's going on," Chromia said, narrowing her optics at Elita. She knew Elita too well.

"And if she thinks it's something you need to know, she'll tell you." Auri informed her defensively. Then she winced as she realized that she'd just really stepped out of bounds.

Chromia was surprised by this outburst. Auri usually didn't respond this way to arguments. Auri tucked her chin down.

Chromia straightened up from her lounging and reached over, putting a comforting hand on Auri's shoulder. "I know it's been a stressful day for you." She said gently.

"I didn't mean to snap at you." Auri said. "I just didn't want you on Elita's case. She's had a rough day, too."

"Alright, alright." Chromia said. She leaned back with a sigh. Yeah, both of the other femmes had had rough days and needed her to be a little more gentle and empathetic. "I need to lay off both of yah."

"Yes, let us have a 'pink femme pity party' this evening, and we'll be better tomorrow." Elita said, a gentle smile touching her face.

"Okay." Chromia said, "And tomorrow I'll have 'blue femme-bot breakdown,' and you two will have to be kind and empathetic."

"It won't be so hard for since we're usually like that." Elita teased.

"Oooo," Chromia sent her a mock-challenging look.

"OR!" Auri inserted hastily, "Or, we could _all_ have a breakdown tonight, and _all_ be better tomorrow."

"Nahhh… not fair to the mechs." Chromia decided. "We'd probably beat them up."

Elita snickered. "Optimus said it wasn't always a bad thing to be beaten by a femme."

"Huh…?" Auri looked completely baffled, but Chromia laughed. Auri's brow furrowed. "Why did he say that?" She asked.

Elita smiled. "I'd have to go back to the part where we were planning our date to explain it."

"Okay-dokey." Chromia said, "Go on back. I promise I'll say nothing about how your date may not go well."

"Snarky, snarky." Elita said then went on, "Optimus and I were there, hugging, and Bee came on blithely. Poor little scout backed away as fast as he could and tripped over a fire hydrant."

"Oh!" Auri felt badly for her dear friend, but Chromia chortled with amusement at the young scout.

"_He_ managed to bend it up and stop the gush. And then he beat a hasty retreat. Optimus, however, tripped over it when he was leaving."

"How…?" Auri was baffled again. How on earth could a Prime trip on a fire hydrant?

"He turned to wink at me."

"Ohhhhh…"

Elita and Chromia shared a smile as the young femme processed this piece of information.

"Yeahhhhh." Elita said, "And I giggled at him when he tried to make it stop gushing as Bee had. So he said I could try to stop it if I thought it was so funny. I said I might succeed; that's when he said getting beaten by a femme wasn't such a bad thing."

Chromia chuckled.

Auri raised an optic-ridge. She understood spark-mates now more than ever, but they were still rather strange at times.

Chromia leaned over and kissed Auri's helm. "You'll understand when you have your own." She promised.

"Yeah, yeah, yeah…" Auri said, but she couldn't help smiling.

Chromia chuckled, knowing the day would come and Auri would like. Then she sighed because she couldn't think much about it. She knew she'd miss having her femme-ling around all the time.

The three femmes hung out for a while, trading little jokes, telling old stories as well as new ones, and taking delight in each others' company. There was pleasant harmony between the two old friends and their little not-so-old one. Stresses and concerns were moved away from the forefront of their processors, and they focused on enjoying their time together. Tomorrow would be a busy day for all of them, but this evening was for them to enjoy.

* * *

And this story had its birthday this month! It's one year old now! :) Before this chapter, it had 234,269 words, 59 chapters, 357 reviews, 46,252 hits, 94 favs, and 88 alerts! Sweet, awesome! It would not be the same without all of you, so thank-you, thank-you very much! XD

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	61. Chapter 61, Quality Time

I said this last time, but I'll say it again in case you forgot. ;)

**I'm a Page on facebook now!** You can "Like" me. I'll do status updates from time to time, and I'll post drawings for my stories and stuff. It's pretty private for you folks since it's a "Likeable" page instead of a "Friend" page. I won't see your stuff unless you make it public. Here's the link (Take out the spaces):

https: / www. facebook. com/ pages/ Cairistona/ 283198991745833

Or you can copy and paste the link that is on my FFN profile. Aurion Blaze is a like page on facebook as well, and you can find her from the Cairistona page.

If the searches won't come up, I "Like" the Transformers Prime facebook page, and I have commented on their album called "Transformers Prime Wallpapers" and you can find me from there. :)

Anyways, that's that. Here's the new chapter! :)

* * *

Chapter 61

**Quality Time**

"I suppose…" Elita began, unusually lazy, "I suppose I should head out and finish my schedule for tomorrow so I won't have to worry about this evening."

"Yeah… you probably should." Chromia said.

"It is good idea to be early." Auri said, parroting Prowl.

Chromia chuckled. All three femmes were completely relaxed. Their long visit had mellowed out most of their tensions, and now even refined Elita was lounging on the couch with no thought of looking prim and poised.

"And you'd have more time to primp and polish for Prime if you did the schedule early." Chromia added.

That moved Elita into action. "You are very right." She said, getting off the couch quickly.

"Oof-!"

"Oh, sorry, Auri!" She hadn't realized that the femme-ling had been leaning so heavily on her.

"Mm, it's alright." Auri said with a smile. She sighed contentedly and wriggled a little to reposition herself comfortably.

"Take care. I hope work goes well for you tomorrow." Elita said then kissed Auri on the helm.

"Thank-you. I hope your date goes well tonight." Auri replied, smiling up at Elita. She knew it would go well. She had been fretting about the meeting to such an extent that she had intercommed Prowl. Prowl had made her promise to keep a secret and then he'd told her that the meeting was going to be cancelled. She'd been puzzled, but Prowl had told her no more. Now she knew why.

"Have fun." Chromia said, smirking doubtfully.

Elita smacked her leg.

"Watch it." Chromia retorted as she reached out and smacked Elita in return.

"You have fun yourself." Elita told her.

"With my mech cross from a meeting? Yeah, that'll be hot." Chromia replied. Maybe Prime weathered late last-minute meetings well, but Ironhide didn't.

"I thought you liked coaxing him out of a bad mood?" Auri asked innocently.

"Wow." Elita said.

Chromia blinked, wondering whether to laugh or freak out. Elita decided to leave before Chromia made up her mind. She scampered to the door and slid it open, darting forwards quickly. Someone covered with mud grabbed her close.

"Heya wanna… Oooh…" the deep voice trailed off as its owner realized who was in his arms. "Hi, Elita." Ironhide said brightly.

"Hi…" She said.

He let go of her. Then he chuckled. "Sorry."

Elita looked down at her front. All muddy now. "It is no problem." She said although she wondered how much longer it was going to take her to take another trip to the showers. Then she tensed up because she knew Ironhide was going to tease her. He was great to her a thousand times out of a thousand-one, but occasionally he had to be horrid.

"I was going to say 'yah wanna get steamy in the shower' when I grabbed you, but I doubt either of our spark-mates would approve." He teased.

Elita felt her face grow hot. "Ironhide, you beat everything."

"Yes, I do." He said chuckling proudly.

"Oh, go on. I'm sure Chromia would be glad to get steamed up with you." Elita replied then left on that note.

"Your word-plays need a little work." Ironhide called merrily after her, and then he went on in to his own femme.

"Were you always that inappropriate?" Auri asked gazing up at him wonder when he had closed the door and come over to the couch.

He looked down at her thoughtfully. "Yes... I'm afraid I always was." He said. "I did that just now because I like flustering the poised femme-commander from time to time, though." He admitted.

"Oh."

"I really probably shouldn't have done it. Like you said, 'inappropriate.'"

"She'll cool off." Chromia reassured them. "Besides, she's had a rather rough day."

Ironhide nodded. Then he took out one of his smaller cannons. Auri cocked her head, watching as he took a piece out of it.

"Will you go get the replacement piece for me, please?" Ironhide asked, holding out the partially melted part.

Auri smiled and nodded as she got up. Ironhide bent and kissed her little fingers as she took the piece, making her giggle. Then she scampered off to the other room, the room where he and Chromia slept.

She went over to one of the hidden panels in the wall and activated it, revealing sets of drawers.

"So, let's see..," she murmured softly to herself. "I need this piece… those are too big…. These ones are for the other cannon… it's awfully quiet in the other room… I don't want to know what's going on… I think this part might be the match… no, it's not. …okay… try this one? Perfect!" She smiled as she closed the drawers and panels.

She started to the main room then paused before she got to the doorway.

"Are you done?" she called. Then she heard her guardians muffle their laughter. There was a pause.

"Uh, we weren't doing anything that we needed to finish." Chromia called.

"Oh." Auri entered. "Why did you send me off like that then?" she asked as Ironhide as she handed him the parts.

"Thank-you." He said, "I sent you because I didn't want to track mud all over the quarters."

"Oh…!"

"I not _always_ inappropriate." Ironhide told her, his optics twinkling.

"Uh-oh, you're never going to live that one down…" Chromia said.

"I can cute my way out of it." Auri said, widening her optics and tilting her wings in a way that she knew was irresistible to _most_ of the older bots on base.

"Hm." Ironhide said speculatively.

Auri clasped her hands together and blinked her optics three times, and then Ironhide had to chuckle at her.

"Don't over-do it, femme-ling." He said, grinning.

"I feel silly doing it, anyway." Auri said, climbing up and plopping down on the couch again. "What are the evening plans?"

"Chromia and I are going to go wash, and then I've got that _meeting_ to go to, so I guess you femmes will get to do the main planning."

"Okay."

"How about a nice long story after dinner, and then we recharge?" Chromia asked.

Auri's face lit up. "Oh, yes! That would be wonderful." She said, delighted. Chromia knew the most wonderful stories ever.

"Okay," Chromia said, rising, "It's a plan then."

Auri told her guardians bye and then settled back down on the couch once they were gone.

"Only the meeting's going to be cancelled, so those plans are going to get changed." She said aloud to herself. "We'll still probably do a story."

She opened a drawer and found her doll, Ever-Near, and took her out. She held the little doll tenderly in her hands for a couple moments, looking at her. Then the phone rang.

"Oh!" Auri jumped up in shock. That phone practically never rang. She went over and picked it up, still holding her sparkling-doll. "Hello?"

"Hello, Auri?" Amy's voice asked uncertainly.

"Yes," Auri answered.

"This is Amy Sora,"

"I recognized your voice. Do you need something?" She hoped everything was alright for her human.

There was a long pause before Amy answered. "Well…" she said, and Auri thought she sounded a little shy, "I was just wondering if I could come over for a little while and visit? I-I wouldn't stay long; I just need a little company."

"Oh! Why, of course!" Auri replied eagerly. Her poor agent must have been lonely! "Of course you can come over."

"Thank-you," Amy said, her voice relieved.

Auri gave her the coordinates for their quarters to put in GPS, and then they ended the call, promising to see each other soon.

Auri looked around to make sure the quarters were perfect. Well, they weren't. There was mud that Ironhide had tracked in. Auri set her doll on the table and hastily ran the cleaner over the floor. Then she checked under the couch for any Duplo* blocks. There were several, so she lay down on the floor and wriggled partway under the couch to retrieve them.

"Okay." She said after putting the blocks away. "Very good." She said, surveying the quarters again. Now they were perfect.

Amy would be there soon, Auri knew. The drive wasn't long, and she couldn't possibly get lost because she had the GPS.

Auri retrieved Ever-Near from the table and smiled at her fondly. She could play with her until Agent Amy showed up. She took Ever-Near over to the couch and played with her for a while, first playing Fearless Young Autobot Defender Femme where they fought Cons valiantly, and then playing creator and sparkling.

When she got tired of her active play, she settled down on the couch, resting her doll on her chest and laying her hands over it as a femme would a real sparkling. She sighed softly. She wondered where her old guardian was. She missed Ironhide and Chromia and wanted them back soon.

Then she really wondered when Amy was going to show up. She checked the time. It had been a little over half an hour.

She sighed and waited ten more minutes. Maybe Amy had changed her mind and wasn't coming. That thought made Auri sad.

Five more minutes pass, and then she heard a little tap on the door. That was Amy!

She bounced off the couch and went over and opened the door. Amy looked a little flustered as she came in.

"Are you alright?" Auri asked, crouching down a little before the woman after closing the door.

"Yes, I'm alright." Amy said, gazing at her in amazement; she couldn't take her eyes off the little form that Auri was cradling to her side. "The GPS in my car isn't alright, though… It took me in the opposite direction and I had to stop to ask someone for directions."

"Aw… I'm sorry. We'll have that thing checked ASAP in the morning, okay?"

"That sounds great." Amy said with nod. Her eyes were riveted on the doll.

Auri straightened. "My guardians should be back soon." She said, "Chromia was going to tell me a story, but we could probably do something else if you don't like stories."

"I would love to hear a story." Amy said, curious about what sort of stories the Transformers told.

"Okay." Auri said happily.

"Um…" Amy said.

Auri cocked her head. "Yes?"

Amy motioned to the doll, uncertain about what to say.

"Oh!" Auri felt her face heat up. She put Ever-Near behind her back as she blushed. "That's my doll."

Amy jumped as the door slid open. Then she darted over to hide by the couch as Ironhide came tromping in with Chromia in his arms bridal style.

"Welcome back," Auri said.

"Yes, indeed, thank-you!" Ironhide said, chuckling as he set Chromia down on her feet. "That meeting got cancelled." He announced with pleasure.

Auri nodded. "Uh-huh."

"Wait…" Chromia raised an optic-ridge suspiciously. "Did you _know_ that it was going to be cancelled?"

"I did," Auri said. "Prowl promised me to secrecy."

"Oh… Prowl…."

"What have you behind your back, Little One?" Ironhide asked curiously as he went over to the hidden panels that stored their Energon.

"Oh…" she brought Ever-Near around so her guardians could see her.

Chromia gave Auri a hug and a cuddle on impulse. "Did you miss us?" she asked.

Auri nodded.

"We have all evening together." Ironhide reassured her. Auri smiled.

"Do you still want that story?" Chromia asked as she went over to get something from another hidden panel.

"Maybe so." Auri said. She glanced over at Amy. "We might see what Agent Amy is interested in."

Chromia turned to give Auri a quizzical look. Then she saw the human.

"Whoa!" she actually jumped. "Oh, I mean, hello. I didn't know you were here."

Amy smiled sheepishly. "I wasn't scheduled to be here. I, um…"

"She was lonely." Auri explained when the human faltered.

"So I asked Auri if I could come over for a little while. I arrived here shortly before you did." Amy finished.

"Ah…!" Chromia said.

"You've met Ironhide." Auri said Amy, "And this is my femme-guardian, his spark-mate, Chromia."

"Pleased to meet you." Amy said, gazing up at the blue femme. Yeah, there was hardly any silver to be seen on her. All blue.

"Same here, Agent Sora." Chromia said, setting some small containers on the table.

A slightly awkward silence followed. The giant metal beings gazed down at the tiny biological one as she gazed back up at them.

"I never realized how small you people were..." Auri said softly.

Amy laughed softly. "Neither did I." she said.

Ironhide chuckled. Then he paused thoughtfully. "Would you like to sit on our table?" he asked, "We're going have our evening meal, and I think you'd probably get more out of our company if you weren't under our feet."

Amy was a little surprised by the offer. Having talked a bit with Ironhide that morning, she knew that he was both thoughtful and blunt, but this was still a surprise.

"Um, sure." She said. And then she wondered how she would get up there.

He came over and held his cupped hands down to her.

"It's alright," he told her when he sensed her increased heart-rate. "I won't drop you or let you fall."

She climbed on slowly, hesitantly, almost afraid to grab on to the armoring of his fingers. She gasped when he started to lift her up, and he was nice enough to not chuckle. He moved slowly and then rested his hands on the table so she could get off.

Chromia chuckled as Amy looked around at the view cautiously. "Don't tell Flareup."

"Why not?" Auri asked her guardian.

"Flareup can be a little strange about humans sometimes." Chromia explained. "I don't really, really think she'd like one being on the table."

Auri snorted. "It's not like their little germs bother us." She said, shifting her hold on her doll.

Amy saw Ironhide try not to smile. His optics twinkled, though. Then he managed to look firm. "That's enough, my femmes. We would not wish to unintentionally offend our guest." He said gently.

"Oh, dear! It's alright." Amy quickly said, putting her hands up to stop Auri's apology. "It was interesting, and I wasn't offended."

Auri hesitated. "Well… okay." She said, looking down at Ever-Near. Then she eyed Amy speculatively and went off to look for something in a drawer.

Amy was left with the adult bots. The two bots had really been kissing quite passionately that morning. It was really rather mind-blowing, actually. She'd never thought alien robots…

"Have you had your dinner?" Ironhide asked her.

"Y-yes, actually. Thank-you."

"Good." Ironhide said. "We're going to have ours soon. We can intake our Energon as is, but we enjoy making it a little special when we have the resources."

Amy watched him. He had three glowing cubes of Energon, like Auri had had for lunch.

Chromia tossed him one of the little containers, which he caught deftly. He smiled Amy and opened the container then shook some of the metallic-colored power within into each of the cubes.

Chromia slid another of the little containers over. This one he eyed before opening. He frowned and then raised an optic-ridge at Chromia. She pursed her lips to one side and shrugged. Ironhide glanced over at Auri, whose back was towards them, then he measured some of the contents into the lid and put it in only one of the cubes. This mystified Amy, but she didn't venture to ask anything.

Another container held tiny copper-colored beads. Ironhide scattered a few in each cube. Then he took another smaller cube of a different color and drizzled some Energon from it into each cube.

Auri came back and watched him do this with a smile of anticipation on her face.

"This will make up for the Med-grade stuff you had for lunch." Ironhide said with a smile.

"Uh-huh!" Auri agreed heartily.

"Whatchya got?" Chromia asked Auri, peering around the edge of the table curiously.

Ever-Near had evidently returned 'home,' for the doll was nowhere in sight. Auri held up a small box. "A box so Agent Amy can sit… if she likes."

Amy decided that she couldn't have asked for a sweeter bot to be her handler. Auri set the box on the table near the wall so that Amy wouldn't be near the edge. Amy thanked her and took a seat.

Ironhide was finished doing various things with the Energon. He picked one up, gave it a little sideways shake so that the contents swirled together, the metallic power shimmering in the liquid energy, and then handed it to Auri. Auri was sitting on the stool near the wall, nearest Amy.

"Thank-you!" Auri said with delight.

"You are welcome, My Little One." Ironhide said gently.

Amy watched Auri, expecting the femme-ling to take a drink. Instead, though, Auri held the cube between both hands and watched her guardians. Ironhide was at the end of the table across from the wall, Chromia on his right, Auri on his left; Chromia was across from Auri. Amy turned her attention to the grown bots but still kept a curious eye on Auri.

Ironhide swirled the second cube as he had Auri's. Then he put his lips to the edge it, just barely tasting the Energon. Chromia's entire attention was on him with a look of adoration as he gave her a nod of approval. Then he leaned over the corner of the table and tilted the cube a little, trickling some of the Energon onto her lips.

"Mm…" she purred as she slipped the cube from his hands. He slid his hands away as she fully took the cube. He swirled the third Energon cube.

The third cube he held for Chromia to drink from, and she gave him a drink from hers. When the drink was done, they touched the cubes together in a silent toast. Then it was done. Auri turned her attention to her own Energon, swirling the cube a little to see the copper droplets move around in the thick energy.

Amy gazed around at the little family with wonder and delight. She could hardly believe that she was actually here. And it had been amazing to see that Energon thing… ritual, whatever it was.

"Is your brain still online?" Ironhide asked with a gentle teasing note as he peered at her over his Energon.

Amy nodded. "Just a little slow as it's trying to take in everything." She replied.

"There is a lot to take in." he murmured thoughtfully.

Amy watched Auri as the little femme took the first sip of her Energon. She was vaguely aware that both guardians tensed up.

Auri's look of delight turned to anger as she tasted her Energon.

"OH!" she yelled and slung the cube forcefully across the table. It slid past Ironhide and dropped to the floor before he could catch it. Amy was horrified.

"WHY DID YOU DO THAT TO MY ENERGON?" Auri howled. "I HATE IT WHEN YOU DOOO THAT!" she yelled. She flopped on the floor, wailing. She ranted and bawled in Cybertronian as she kicked her feet.

"That's enough." Ironhide said firmly yet gently. He slid from his stool and picked her up, setting her on her feet.

"No! No! No-ohhhh!" Auri howled, refusing to stand. "NO! I hate it-! Wah-ahh…!"

Ironhide took her onto his lap as he sat again. "Calm down," he told her gently as she kicked. "Sh… sh-sh. Calm down. Remember yesterday?" he asked gently.

Auri wailed with less force, and didn't kick as hard, but her frame still shook with sobs.

Ironhide held her and petted her, speaking to her gentle and soothing words in Cybertronian until she finally grew quiet.

"You need to drink your Energon now," Ironhide said softly. Chromia had retrieved the cube from the floor.

"Yuck." Auri growled at him.

"I know you don't like the taste of the supplement powder, but the whole rest of the Energon is enough to drown out the taste; you know that." Ironhide said.

"Nnnno!" Auri retorted petulantly.

Ironhide got stern. He shook his head. "No, Auri. No back-talk. I will swat you if you give me back-talk like that."

Auri pouted a little as she considered this. Then she sniffed as her cooling system jumped to work a little harder to cool her overly warm system.

Ironhide took her Energon cube and gently pressed it to her lips. "Focus on the copper and the silver and the sweetener." He directed gently.

Auri sighed and then sipped some of the Energon.

"Copper and silver," Ironhide repeated as she started to make a face, "Copper…"

She took a good long drink and then sighed when he lowered the cube.

"Was that very bad?" Ironhide asked.

Auri shook her head slowly, no.

"Alright." Ironhide said. He cuddled her some more, and then she slipped down from his lap to go sit on her own stool.

Auri fiddled with her Energon cube a little.

"Go on," Chromia told her.

Auri took sip. Then she took a good drink. Ironhide reach over and rubbed her back. "My good femme-ling." He praised.

Auri sighed. She looked over at Amy. The poor young woman was looking very, very worried.

"That was quite a scene, I guess." Auri said quietly, lowering her optics to her Energon.

"It just surprised me." Amy told her gently.

"I don't like the supplements that Ratchet gives me." Auri said, "I don't like them at all, but I have to have every day in my Energon."

"For how long?" Amy asked, feeling bad for the little bot.

"A couple more weeks. It's because of the accident that I was in last month. My body needs them to help it restore."

"Oh…"

Auri took another drink of her Energon. Then she studied the cube for a little while. "Me slyeepy…" she said softly with a sigh after a few minutes.

"Alright." Ironhide said. He leaned over and kissed her little helm. "You can go rest."

"Thank-you…" Auri murmured as she slipped from her stool. She went over to the couch and climbed onto it. Then she curled up and dropped into recharge within a couple seconds.

Chromia sighed and rest her head in her hands.

Rising from his stool, Ironhide went over and gently began to rub his spark-mate's shoulders. "She should outgrow it soon," he said softly.

Amy sat on her box uncertain of what to do. Ironhide looked over at her and half-smiled regretfully. "I'm sorry you had to see that…" he said. "I know it's uncomfortable when someone's sparkling acts up."

"It's alright." Amy said softly. "I think you handled it well…" the praise was tentative; she wasn't sure if it was the right thing to say, but she wanted to encourage him.

"Thank-you… It's become routine ever since she got out of Med-Bay, so I've had practice."

Amy's eyes widened with surprise. "You mean… what just happened happens every single evening? …the yelling and kicking and crying…?"

Ironhide nodded. "And me picking her up and calming her down then making her drink her Energon. It always makes her tired, so she always ends up needing a nap before she finishes the rest of her meal."

Amy looked over at the peaceful little bot in recharge on the couch.

"It's like a reoccurring nightmare." Chromia said. "But it's getting better slowly."

"How so?" Amy asked. What she'd seen had seemed pretty bad.

"The yelling isn't quite as loud as it used to be," Chromia explained, "And the crying isn't lasting quite as long as it used, either. The back-talk isn't as bad…" Chromia trailed off, remembering the first times. Auri had gotten a swat then. Ironhide had hated having to do it. Chromia shook the memory away and went on, "She didn't fight being handfed this evening, but she used to. And the naps are getting shorter. It's pretty stressful for all of us… but we'll make it through."

"This is an example of what Ratchet was talking about when he was explaining development." Ironhide said. "This is something that takes Auri back to the sparkling stage. And it's something that she's not learned to control yet. It's going to take work for her to learn it."

Amy gazed at the guardians, touched by their commitment as well as their trials. "Given how much you love her," she whispered, afraid she might cry if she tried to speak aloud, "I think it will work out, and she couldn't ask for better caretakers."

This made both guardians smile softly.

"Thank-you for your words," Ironhide said, his voice a little gruff.

"Waking," Chromia said out of the blue. Attention turned to the couch. Auri shifted and rolled out.

She blinked at her guardians and Amy. Then she sighed. She got up and came back to sit on her stool. She fingered her Energon cube.

"Just drink it." Ironhide said gently but firmly as he took his seat.

Auri hesitated. She had always thrown this Energon on the floor after her nap because it didn't taste all good. She had always thrown it on the floor after her nap because that was the thing to do. She wasn't supposed to throw it, though. Naughty sparklings did that and got swats. She did it and got swats. Was she a naughty sparkling? She didn't want to be. Honestly, she was Commander Prowl's assistant. She was bigger and better than that.

She sniffed and sighed and then picked up the cube. Then she took a drink, gulping a little to avoid really tasting the supplements.

Ironhide reached over and rubbed her back near her door-wings, praising her warmly with Cybertronian words. "_My good sparkling! I am so very, very pleased that you did not throw your Energon on the floor. You have shown maturity in making the decision to stop this habit. I am always proud of you, my little treasure, but this has added to it._"

"_I am glad to make you proud, my special guardian. I love you._" She replied contentedly.

"_I love you, too._" Ironhide replied.

Amy had no idea of what words they said, but the tone was precious.

They went on with their dinner, and conversation started after a few minutes. It was lively conversation. Auri quickly became quite chipper, and Amy found that Chromia had quite a sense of humor. Ironhide, she already knew, loved keeping up a conversation. Ironhide didn't monopolize a conversation; he furthered it. He'd say something then pass it on so that everyone could enjoy having their say.

Amy thoroughly enjoyed sitting with the family as they had their meal.

Finally, the Energon cubes were empty except for a little residual energy on the side. Chromia rose and took the cubes over to a self where she began to clean them. Auri slipped from her stool and got a cloth to wipe the table with.

Amy went and stood against the wall so that Auri could wipe the entire table.

"So, the femmes get the domestic chores on your planet as well?" she asked.

Ironhide chuckled. "It depends on which class they belong to. Here however, no. Chromia and Auri are cleaning up because I mixed the Energon. We share the work. If they had mixed the Energon, I would be cleaning the cubes and wiping the table."

"Oh. I like that." Amy said.

"So do we." Chromia said, smiling over at her.

Ironhide put his finger down on the corner of Auri's cloth so she couldn't slide it.

"Hey!" she said, her optics twinkling as she knew he was playing a game.

Ironhide winked at her and chuckled as he let go.

Auri promptly whisked the cloth away then swung it at his face to swat him with it.

"Okay, okay," he said, ducking to the other side. Auri whacked his shoulder with the cloth. "Ow, okay! I'm sorry," he apologized although laughing.

Auri giggled triumphantly.

Ironhide jumped up from his stool quickly and scooped her up.

"EEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!" She squealed, half-frightened, half-delighted.

Amy winced and covered her ears.

"Sh-sh-sh," Ironhide hushed hastily, guilty, darting a concerned look at Amy, "That sound is a little too much for humans' auditory systems."

"Oh dear." Auri said. She tilted her head back so she was looking at Amy upside-down. "Sorry, Agent Amy." She said.

"It's alright." Amy said, taking her hands down.

"I'll be more careful." Auri told her.

"I will, too." Ironhide said.

"You scream like a little girl bot?" Amy asked, teasing him.

He raised an optic-ridge.

Auri covered her mouth, but her form shook with laughter.

"Smarty-parts femmes." Ironhide said, but he shot Amy grin. He carried Auri over to the couch where Chromia was sitting and set her down on Chromia's lap. Auri snuggled against her femme guardian as she put her arms around her.

Ironhide came back over to the table and offered his cupped hands to Amy. She climbed on, rather expecting to be shown to the door. She was surprised when he carried her over to the couch. And she was more surprised when he sat down on the couch with her still in his hands.

"um…"

"Is this alright?" Ironhide asked her.

She was a little nervous, but she nodded that it was alright.

With careful movements, Ironhide situation the human so that she was sitting on his arms, which were crossed across his chest. She slowly, hesitantly leaned back, resting her back against his chest.

"Relax a little and you'll be comfortable." Ironhide smiling down at her.

"Heheh… I'll try." She said.

"Mm, it will come." He said.

"About that story…" Chromia said apologetically, "It's all in Cybertronian. I've never translated it, and I think a quick translation wouldn't do it any justice at all."

Amy shook her head. "It would be awesome to hear a story in a different language." She said. "Even though I wouldn't be able to understand the words, it would be neat to hear the words and the tone of your voice and the speech patterns." She explained.

"Well, alright." Chromia said. "I can see that."

Auri snuggled a little more, and Amy started to relax against Ironhide. Chromia began the story.

Amy watched Auri's face as the femme-ling listened to the Cybertronian story. Chromia's voice took on a musical quality as she spoke, and Ironhide seemed to radiate a warm feeling. Well, maybe it was that he just radiated warmth, but Amy felt a warm feeling. Something behind the mech's chest had a quiet but steady, even pulse that was soothing. Amy grew drowsy.

Ironhide shifted his arms to cradle the human once he noticed that she was nodding off. She snuggled against the warm, smooth metal and fell asleep quickly once her head was down.

Auri was drowsy by the time Chromia finished her story, and Amy was sound asleep.

Ironhide rose carefully, still holding the human, and watched as Chromia got up and helped Auri lie down. She covered Auri with a blanket, tucking it gently around her door-wings, and then kissed her little helm. Then she turned to Ironhide.

"What shall we do with 'Agent Amy'?" Ironhide whispered.

"I'm not sure…" Chromia whispered back. "I hear humans shouldn't drive vehicles while drowsy or right after waking, though."

Ironhide nodded. He'd heard the same.

"Let's just let her sleep here." he said after a couple moments.

Chromia's optics widened.

"Do you mind?" he asked.

She shook her head. "No. It just surprised me. Um, I'll get some cloths for her to sleep on since they don't really care for hard surfaces."

"Good idea."

Chromia got some larger cloths and folded a mattress for Amy out of them. She put it in a corner where the human wouldn't accidentally get stepped on. Then she stepped back so Ironhide could lay the woman down.

Ironhide knelt and carefully moved Amy to the makeshift bed, handling her as cautiously as he would new-made sparkling. Then Chromia handed him another cloth, and this one he laid over Amy.

"That should do it." He whispered, rising.

Chromia nodded. "Only let's leave another cloth in case she gets cold."

Ironhide nodded. Chromia got another cloth and put it within Amy's reach while Ironhide rubbed Auri's back and whispered good-night to her. Then Chromia and Ironhide went off to their own room, Ironhide dimming the lights as they went.


	62. Chapter 62, Getting Up, In, and Out

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Chapter 62

**Getting Up, In, and Out**

Auri woke up and gazed at the back of the couch. It was morning time, time for a new day of all sorts of things. She wondered when Commander Prowl would get out of Med-Bay, the poor bot. He was very good at hiding all his feelings, but she suspected he wasn't at all happy within the confines of Med-Bay.

She got up and folded her blanket, putting it in a drawer. Chromia was strict about leaving stuff lying around. Auri stretched and wondered if her guardians were awake yet. They'd been overly drowsy yesterday because of battle-stress, but it didn't usually last very long.

She smiled and then tip-toed to the other room. She stopped at the doorway and peeked cautiously with one optic. Ironhide grinned at her when he saw her. She grinned back and came into the room.

Ironhide was quite awake and ready to start the day, but Chromia was recharging on his arm.

Auri climbed up on the berth and sat. "You gonna wake her?" she asked, whispering.

"You gonna back me if she gets mad at me for doing it?" he asked back, his optics twinkling playfully.

"I'll wake her." Auri said mischievously.

"Woe is me…." Ironhide said as Auri stood up on her knees the berth.

"CHROMIAAAAAHHH!" Auri yelled, bouncing up and then coming down on top of Chromia's belly.

"Ngh…" Chromia was annoyed, "Yah brat…" she muttered as she shifted positions.

"Wake up! Wake up!" Auri tickled Chromia's sides mercilessly.

Chromia squirmed. Then she gave Ironhide a hard kick.

"Ow!" The mech yelped, moving out of the way.

Chromia rolled over, making Auri losing her seat and tumble off beside Ironhide. Then she, Chromia, rolled back over and curled up, hugging one arm around her mid-section and resting a taze-gun against her side with that hand while her other hand rested under her cheek.

"I don't think she wants to be bothered right now." Auri said, moving over so that the taze-gun wasn't pointing at her. She didn't think Chromia would use it, but she wasn't going to call her femme-guardian's bluff.

"That's called an 'understatement,' femme-ling." Ironhide said with a grin.

Auri chuckled at him. She knew it what it was. It was just amusing to use them from time to time. Prowl used them extremely well.

"Well." Ironhide scooped her up and got off the berth. "We'll just go have breakfast without Femme Recharge-Helm."

"Okay," Auri agreed with a giggle as Ironhide carried her over his shoulder out of the room. He took her and sat her down at the table.

"Oh!" Auri said with surprise. Ironhide looked at her and found that she was staring at the makeshift bed where Amy Sora was soundly sleeping.

"She was completely asleep." Ironhide told her. "We thought it best to leave her that way and not risk her driving while drowsy."

Auri nodded. "Lots of people die that way." She said.

Ironhide blinked. That was an odd statement coming from his little femme-ling.

"At least 1,550 a year in the US." She clarified, misreading his expression."And then about 71,000 people get injuries from it." She added.

Ironhide frowned. "That is pretty serious."

Auri nodded.

"I'm really glad we didn't let her drive, then." Ironhide said, looking back at the human.

"As am I." Auri said.

"Wha's glad about…huh…?" Chromia asked, wandering in.

"You actually awake?" Ironhide asked his mate.

"Oh… sure..." She answered as she leaned against him and shut her optics again.

"That's what I thought." Ironhide said. He gently stooped down and picked her up then carried her over to the couch. She barely responded when he settled her on the piece of furniture. "That's how you wake up half the time." He told Auri. She giggled because she knew it was true.

"Are you going to do something yummy?" Auri asked as Ironhide got a cube for her. He paused. He hadn't been planning on it. Then he smiled at her.

"Yes." He said, "Anything in particular you would like?"

Auri told him.

He chuckled. "That much sweet Energon on a low tank would make you hyper, and then you'd feel awful, My Little One. But I'll put a little in with the regular."

"Okay." Auri was agreeable to that. Ironhide smirked a little as he mixed Auri's Energon, amused with mischievous speculation on Amy Sora's reaction to Auri being on the equivalent of a sugar-rush. He'd never do that, but still, it would be amusing to see the human's reaction.

"Hey," Chromia said, coming over. She was obviously awake now.

"Third time's the charm." Ironhide said cheekily.

"Smarty-parts." Chromia chided as she gave his backside a love-swat. "I was going to ask if I was going to get a special Energon as well."

"Oh, I don't know. You've been somewhat of a brat this morning." Ironhide sounded speculative as he gently teased his mate.

"Can I cute my way out of it?" she asked, widening her optics.

"Um…" Ironhide crossed his arms and looked thoughtful as if debating whether or not he should let a naughty sparkling off.

Then a strange phone went off, startling all three bots.

"WHAT TH-!" Chromia yelped, "Nothing." She said as she saw Auri giving her a disturbed look. "Sorry."

Auri got down and when over to Amy's purse by that had been left by the door. The phone was in an outside pocket. "What should we do?" Auri asked.

Ironhide shrugged. "I'm not sure…" He'd never had a human sleeping in his quarters with her phone going off. "Perhaps its noise will wake her up?"

"I don't think it's loud enough to do that…" Chromia mused, shaking her head doubtfully.

Auri carefully extracted the phone from Amy's purse and took it over to the sleeping woman, placing it near her head.

Amy hardly even stirred, and the phone went silent after another moment.

"Not loud enough." Chromia stated.

"Hmm…" Auri frowned. So that hadn't worked.

Then the phone started ringing again.

"It's the same number." Auri said, looking worried. The caller evidently seemed to think it was important to reach Amy.

"Wake up, Agent Sora." Ironhide ventured to shake the woman a little with his fingertips on her shoulder.

"She's too asleep." Auri said anxiously. She picked up the phone and signaled it, activating the "talk" key before her guardians could object. "Hello?" she said, holding the relatively small thing between her fingers.

"Hi," the female voice on the end had a slightly suspicion note, "I'm calling for Amy Sora?"

"She is here." Auri said, "However, she is quite asleep. Might I take a message?"

There was a pause on the other end.

"I could try seeing if she would wake up." Auri offered.

"May I ask who this is?" the voice asked with frown.

"Ummm…" Auri looked questioningly at her guardians, both of whom shook their heads. "I am sorry, but that is classified." She said, watching Chromia walk over to the cupboard.

"Classified?" the caller asked.

"Yes, ma'am, that is correct…" what else could she say? "I can take a message, or I can let her know that you would like her to…" She trailed off as Chromia came back with a small container of water and dumped it on the woman.

Ironhide clapped both hands over his mouth as Amy responded immediately. She jumped up to a sitting position with a gasp, and she coughed on some of the water. She stared up at the bots with shock as water dripped down her face and shirt. '_What on earth just happened?_' her brain screamed. Then she realized that the blue femme had obviously dumped about two gallons of water on her. Cold water.

"What was that for?" She yelped.

"It works in your movies." Chromia said, "Phone for you." She motioned to Auri. Auri had an aghast look on her face as she held the phone gingerly between her finger and thumb.

Amy stood up and tried to brush some of the water from herself before Ironhide handed her a dry cloth. Then she wiped her face and hands and reached for her phone from Auri.

"Oh!" she said, "Good-morning, Mariah."

"Good-morning… what on earth is going on, and who was that?" Mariah Phillips was rather perplexed.

"Oh…" Amy said, "I'm actually not sure; I just woke up. From what I can tell, though, I fell asleep while visiting a family of bots last night, and they let me sleep on their living-room floor. Then you called this morning, and the femme thought dumping two gallons of water on me would wake me up." She grinned up at Chromia to let her know there were no hard feelings. Chromia shrugged.

Mariah laughed sheepishly. "Wow. That's sounds like an experience."

"It's is." Amy said, nodding.

"Wait, they have families now?" Mariah asked eagerly as she realized that Amy had said "family of bots."

"Yeah… um…" she looked at Ironhide. "Do you remember Ironhide?"

"I do. There's no way I would ever forget him." Mariah sounded like she was smiling.

Amy smiled. "Same here. Well," she hurried on as Ironhide smirked, "His mate –ah, spark-mate, is on earth with him now, and they have an adopted daughter."

"Oh, wow. That sounds really awesome." Mariah said softly, wishing she could have been there.

"Yeah, it is." Amy said looking at the bots. They were watching her almost curiously. She smiled back at them. "The daughter is the one who took your call actually; her name is Aurion Blaze, but she goes by 'Auri.' And she's my handler for this project, instead of Prowl."

Mariah chuckled softly. "So, new handler and new liaison."

"Indeed. And it was an interesting start." Amy said, smiling over at Auri. Auri nodded. "So, did you call for a specific reason?"

"I just wanted to check up on you and make everything is going alright."

"Oh, yes. It's going fine. It was a little rocky at first because of me being a day early, but it's gone well since then. I'll start sending you stuff today. I was going to send some last night, but I ended up sleeping over here."

"Okay. That sounds good. Tell the bots I said hi."

Amy grinned back at the bots again. "Mariah Phillips says hi."

"Hello to Mariah," Ironhide said with a grin. Chromia shrugged but nodded her greetings. Auri looked concerned.

"Ironhide says hello, and Chromia does, too." Amy told her friend, "Just a second. Auri, is everything alright?"

"I just don't want her to be mad because I interfered with her call…"

"Oh, no. It's completely alright." Amy reassured her.

"Okay. Greetings from Auri." Auri said.

"Greetings from Auri." Amy told Mariah with a smile.

"I hope I'll be able to meet her sometime." Mariah said. "I'll talk to you later."

"Alright. Good-bye."

"Good-bye, and good luck." Mariah said then hung up a second later.

Amy looked down at her wet clothes.

"Dry-clean only?" Chromia asked, raising an optic-ridge.

Amy grinned. "No, fortunately. They're washable. They'll be fine… I'm just rather wet."

"If you'd woken up when Ironhide had shaken you, you wouldn't have had this problem." Chromia said coolly with a shrug.

Amy was taken aback by this response and thought it a little rude. "You're quite right." She said anyway, trying to smile reassuringly up at the femme who made her feel two inches tall. The femme nodded once. It rather hurt. Chromia had been quite friendly last night.

Amy looked over at Auri. The little femme has a concerned expression on her face. Ironhide had a concerned look on his face as well.

"You little ones excuse us for a moment." He said and motioned Chromia to go with him. Amy and Auri were silent and Chromia went with him to their room.

"_Your actions of coolness caused hurt to Ami's feelings_." Ironhide said softly in Cybertronian so Amy couldn't overhear. "_Speak, what goes on in your processors_?"

Chromia sat down on their berth and pulled her knees up to her chest. "_In the fair hours of the night, I recalled not that she served as a liaison_." She said, replying in the same language and not looking at Ironhide. "_The phone call reminded me of that._"

"_I see that now. Will you go on_?"

"_These liaisons of earth build resentment within my spark, and I little like it that she has spent a time with us informally. How better to catch us with guards let down? How better to learn what makes us vulnerable? It sets me ill at ease._"

"_This I understand._" Ironhide said thoughtfully. "_Yet, to speak to her with curtness…? This does little to speak well of us._"

"_That is truth._" Chromia said with a little sigh. She looked up at her mate. He smiled down at her with gentle love. "_Apprehension makes me curt. I did not think of it._" She looked down again, "_I did not wish to have wrath or have blame assigned me for her state of wetness._"

"_Bear not sorrow in your spark, My-Femme. The simplest of apologizes will amend matters with this earth-native._"

Chromia glanced up at him. "_You are much assured of this._"

"_As I am of most things."_ He said, _"And am I not often right?_" he added with a bit of a smirk and a wink.

Chromia chuckled. "_That we shall have to test tonight to see…_"

"_Ahyum…_" Ironhide purred,

"HEY!" Auri yelled deliberately. She knew that purr.

"_Little femmes have well-developed audio-processors_." Chromia said, chuckling.

Auri came in looking a little mad. "_I had processed this was _A_ talk, and _THE_ talk. Poor Ami is fretful and distressed about this whole occurrence_." She protested.

Chromia rose from the berth. "I'm sorry, Little One." She said, touching Auri's shoulder. "I'll go talk to her."

"Talk nice." Auri muttered at her guardian with a dark look.

"You talk nice." Chromia warned her.

"Yes, ma'am." Auri answered with a little tilt of a door-wing.

"C'mon." Chromia put a forgiving arm around her, and they both went to the main room.

"Hey," Chromia said to Amy. Amy looked cautiously up at her. "Sorry about that…" Chromia said, "It wasn't what I should have said. I got a little defensive, not wanting to get harassed for half-drowning you."

"Aw, it's alright." Amy said. "I'm not mad about it, just rather taken aback."

"Well, reasonably so. Not many people get woken up by robots dumping water on them." Chromia said with a bit of a smile.

"I'd say maybe about three in seven-billion." Ironhide said with a wink. He grinned down at Amy and she couldn't help but chuckle.

"And the odds of it happening again are pretty slim." Chromia said with a wave of her hand. "Once you leave the base, they're less than one in 2.6 trillion."

"May I go ahead and intake my Energon?" Auri asked.

"Oh! Yes, you may." Ironhide said, turning to nod at his femme-ling. Then he looked back to the human, "Amy, what are your immediate plans for this morning?"

"I am going to go back to my apartment and do some stuff there before I meet up with Auri a little later this morning." Amy answered.

"Alright." Ironhide nodded, "I just wasn't sure if you were staying here longer."

"Oh, no. I would like to, but I sort of need to get some dry clothes and write up some reports." Amy replied.

"Very well. We shall see you later then." Ironhide going over to the door.

"Gooood-bye!" Auri called, "I'll be a little early so I won't risk being late."

"Sounds good." Amy called back. "Bye, Chromia; it was nice to meet you."

"You too." Chromia said.

Amy started out the door.

"Oh!" Auri said. She slipped off her stool and scampered over. "I almost forgot that your car's GPS needed to be examined."

"Ah, we can do that a little later. I'm pretty sure I know how to get back to my apartment." Amy said, starting the engine.

"Okay." Auri said. She watched for a moment and then turned back to Ironhide. They went and settled around their table.

"Biological organisms." Ironhide said with a little amusement.

Chromia smirked. "Be nice." She chided.

"Don't wanna know." Auri said, shaking her head.

Ironhide leaned over and kissed her helm. "This you do want to know:" he said, "I love you."

Auri smiled up at him. "I love you, too." She said. Then she looked down at her nearly empty Energon cube. She tipped it all the way up and finished it off. "I will see you later!" She said, slipping down from her stool. "Imma go an' harass poor Ultra Magnus for stickin' paper-clips in all the wrong places."

Her guardians turned and both stared at her. She giggled. "Teasing." She told them. "I was teasing."

"Ohhkay." Ironhide said. "Just don't try it with Ultra Magnus."

"Imma smart bot." Auri said, "I know better. Love you!" she grabbed her data-pad and scampered out the door.

OoOoOoOoOoOoO

Auri arrived at the office on time, and after she'd been there for thiry minutes, all was not well in the office.

Ultra Magnus had been very, very patient for thirty minutes. Auri had been very, very aggravating for thirty minutes. She'd been a little smart-mouth on and off. And she'd seemed to think half of everything that happened was very amusing. He had tried to reprimand her, but it never seemed to bother her.

"This is serious." Ultra Magnus finally told her sternly, fed up with her nonsense.

"_Why_ so serious?" She asked, quoting a movie villain as she quirked her optic-ridges.

"Because." Ultra Magnus said deliberately, "I. Said. So."

"Oho-ho!" She said, "Got it." Then she smiled in a giggling way and turned back to her computer.

Ultra Magnus gusted cool air through his system quietly to keep from huffing. At least the femme-ling was preoccupied for a short while. She'd never been this contrary before, though. He frowned. She was testing him again, only in a different way. This time she was testing his tolerance instead of his authority.

"Ultra Magnus, do yah know where Prime filed the Benson draft?" Auri asked a minute later.

"Under the draft folder, I would believe." Ultra Magnus replied.

"'_Then I saw his face…! Now Imma believer..! Notta trace adoubt on mah mind…'_" Auri sang. "'I'min luuuv…'"

"Shh!" Ultra Magnus hushed.

"Shhhhhhh!" Auri drew the sound out longer.

::Ultra Magnus to Prowl... could I have a minute of your time?:: he sent desperately over a private intercom.

::Certainly.:: Prowl replied almost instantly. ::With what may I help you?::

::Auri.:: Magnus sent back.

::Clarify?::

::She's aggravatingly hyper. She's being a little smarty-parts, and she keeps giggling about things.::

::Ah. Let me consider this one a moment. She has never behaved like that for me.::

::Blah, blah; she's perfect for you.::

::She is not.:: Prowl replied, ::She simply does better with me.::

Ultra Magnus decided he'd better not argue with the only bot who could help him. ::Well, have you any solution for her present behavior?::

Prowl hesitated. He did have a solution, but Auri wouldn't like it. He knew she shouldn't be spoiled, though. ::Yes, I do. Make her stand in a corner, facing the wall. She is not allowed speak while standing there, and only you can say when she gets to leave the corner.::

Ultra Magnus blinked. ::That's sparkling punishment!::

::You would be quite ashamed of your actions if someone stood you in a corner for them, would you not?::

::Well… yes.::

::And she is acting like a sparkling.::

::Yes.::

::That wasn't a question.:: Prowl told him. ::She will not be happy at all, but you must be firm. Tell her why she is going in a corner and then put her there.::

::Alright. Thank-you. Ultra Magnus out.:: Ultra Magnus signed off with a sense of relief as well as a sense of dread.

He lived the next six minutes in apprehension, and then Auri crossed the line again.

"Imma tell yah forty times, and yah still won't recall it," she started.

"That is enough." Ultra Magnus told her firmly, "You go stand in that corner and be quiet." He pointed over to the left corner on the other side of the room.

Auri blinked at him. He wanted what?

Ultra Magnus got up and came around to where she was. "Come on." He said, putting a hand on her shoulder and escorting her to the corner. "You have been silly and sassy all morning, and it simply is not to be allowed. You are going to stand here and face the wall quietly and think about how you are supposed to behave in this office."

Auri stared at the corner that she was now facing. She blinked again. This was absurd. Vey absurd. She decided she would tell Ultra Magnus so.

"This is absurd, Ultra Magnus." She said, turning to give him a look that asked if he was off his processors.

"I said, 'quietly.'" Ultra Magnus said sternly. "No speaking."

She held her palms up and shrugged and shook her head.

Ultra Magnus lowered his chin a little. "You face that corner and don't say a word."

She raised an optic ridge but turned around and faced the corner. She shifted her wings up a few inches and then down, then side to side. Then she stood on one foot.

Ultra Magnus glared at her back.

He wrote a few lines, and she switched to stand on the other foot. This time she rose up on the ball of her foot.

"Both feet flat on the floor, Aurion Blaze." Ultra Magnus ordered. "You are in that corner to take a time out and think about how you are supposed to behave. Not the practice dance stretches."

Auri mumbled something in a disrespectful, annoyed tone of voice.

"Quiet." Ultra Magnus ordered.

"I really don't like yah."

Ultra Magnus ground his jaw to keep from yelling at her.

OoOoOoOoOoO

Prowl, lying in Med-Bay, received two intercom messages at almost the same time.

::PROWL! Your stand-her-in-a-corner-thing is NOT working. She's just as flippant as before and simply will not stand still or stop talking!:: That was from Ultra Magnus.

:::Commander Prowls! Ultra Mags is completely snarky and overreacting. He's making me stand in a corner, and it's simply absurd!:: This was from Auri.

Prowl sighed. Those two were in the same room but weren't communicating with each other. They wanted to do it through him. This was ridiculous. They were both well able to communicate. Maybe they didn't realize it, but it was true.

He paused.

Maybe they had never learned to communicate with each other.

He frowned. They had always managed to work things out in the past.

"Prowls… he is very, very snarky.:: Auri added.

Why on earth was she adding an "s" to the end of his name?

::Prowl?:: Ultra Magnus had obviously been expecting a reply to his complaint.

Prowl sat up and hung his feet over the side of his berth. He could get in trouble if he did what he was planning now, but he decided that it would probably be worth the risk, and the consequences probably wouldn't be too bad if he did get caught.

He just needed a little help.

::Jolt and First Aid, you both in Med-Bay?:: he asked, opening a com to only those two.

::Yes, do you need something?:: First Aid replied.

::Yes, I am doing so research.:: Jolt replied a second later.

::Good. Now, listen. Auri and Ultra Magnus are on the brink of war with each other, and I need to go work things out between the two of them. I need you two to get me out of Med-Bay long enough for me to get them settled.::

::We can't really do that.:: First Aid replied hesitantly. ::Ratchet would be furious if you left and we helped you do it.::

::I have a plan, though.:: Prowl told him. ::Jolt?::

::Let's hear it.:: Jolt replied.

::Ratchet is in the main area. I need one of you to lure him to the computer, to the side of the room away from the door. Or better yet, lure him into a different room altogether. Now, the other of you is to come in here. Then I will leave, and Ratchet will think you are leaving. Does that make sense?::

::Yes… but, how do we know you will come back?::

::I promise I will come back. You have my word. As soon as things are settled enough between the two belligerents, I will return.::

::Okay.::

::That's good enough for me.:: Jolt said. ::I have a question on my research that I can ask Ratchet.::

::Excellent. Just make sure you can keep him preoccupied enough that he won't pay attention to Aid or me.::

::You got it, Prowl. I'll com you and Aid once Ratchet is in place.::

::PROWL?:: Ultra Magnus fairly yelled.

::Patience. It takes time to come up with solutions.:: Prowl told him.

::You could at least let me know you're working on something.:: the big bot reproached.

::Sorry. Sh, now. This take concentration. You will hear from me when I have something to say. Prowl out.::

::It's a go.:: Jolt said.

First Aid came wandering in. "Hi, Prowl. How are you feeling?" he said for Ratchet's benefit in case the senior medic happened to overhear.

"Not all that great." Prowl replied.

"Sorry to hear that." First Aid paused. "Okay, well, that looks pretty good. You should be out of here before too long."

"Good." Prowl said, easing silently off his berth.

"Well, take care now, and don't make too much trouble."

"I am law enforcement, remember? I stop trouble; I don't make it."

"Okay, okay."

Prowl patted First Aid on the shoulder. ::Thank-you.:: he told him over the com, and then he headed out into the main room.

Jolt had Ratchet in another room, apparently. Prowl walked to the double-doors at the front and went through them into the reception area. Then he went out the front door.

The sunlight was warm and friendly, feeling so good that he wanted to lie down and dose in it. But he couldn't.

He looked around quickly then darted to a side road. He wasn't allowed to transform, so he was stuck walking to his office. He snuck through back-ways so he wouldn't get caught.

He started to go across one street, but had to stop and duck behind a tank as Sunny and Sides drove by.

This was ridiculous! He was hiding from the twins! He shook his head to shake to confusion from his logic-core then checked to make sure no one else was coming.

::Prowls?::

::Wait a couple minutes, Aurion.:: He told the femme. Then he walked across the street and hurried down another alley.

He finally reached the building that his office was in. The hardest part would be getting to the front door without getting caught. He leaned against the wall and peered around the corner.

It was actually clear. He made a run for it, stopped at the door, and then calmly went in.

"Are you two sparklings completely lacking the ability to communicate effectively?" he asked, giving Ultra Magnus a look of disapproval then giving Auri's back a look of disapproval.

"Prowl!" Auri was no doubt delighted to hear his voice. She turned with a great grin on her face. She started to come forwards.

"No." Prowl's tone stopped her short. "Ultra Magnus put you in a corner for a reason. You are to stay there."

"Youuuu toooo?" Auri groaned and turned back, flopping into the corner so that her wings clanged against the wall. "What's with officers these days? Imma tell Ironhide…"

Prowl stared hard at her. Something was not right here.

He looked over at Ultra Magnus. Ultra Magnus shook his head; he had no answers as to Auri's behavior.

Prowl went over and turned Auri around by the wing. She eyed him doubtfully. "Changed your mind?" she asked.

Prowl eyed her skeptically and thought of a time when he'd babysat a sparkling. "What did you have for breakfast?" he asked.

"Oh…! Banana-nut pancakes with chocolate syrup of course! That's what we Cybertronians alllllways have for breakfast!" she chirped.

Prowl had no reply.

"DUH! I had Energon, you silly." She giggled.

"Did you have high-grade?"

"Um, no? I'm too young for it, remember? The party? You had it, and-"

"Yes, yes. Be quiet."

She giggled. "It was a fun party."

::Ironhide,:: Prowl intercommed her guardian.

::Yes, Prowl?::

::What did Auri have for breakfast?::

::Regular Energon with a little bit of sweet mixed in. No more than two percent sweet grade, I'd say.:: Ironhide answered. ::Not that it is any of your business. What is going on, Prowl?::

::How about you come to my office and see.::

::Okay. I'll come. Ironhide out.::

Prowl sat the giggly femme-ling on the floor in the corner, told her to stay, and then went over to Ultra Magnus.

::Well?:: Magnus asked over the com so Auri wouldn't hear him.

::I think she had too much of something at some point.:: Prowl said, pretending to look over a document. ::She's either on a sweet-grade-rush, or she's somehow gotten high-grade in her system. Or some sort of drug.::

::That's not good.::

::I am hoping it is just sweet-grade.::

::As am I.:: Ultra Magnus glanced Auri's way.

She winked and waved her fingers.

::You didn't see that.:: Prowl told him.

Ironhide came in. "Okay, what's going on here?"

Auri answered. "Mags is snarky, and Prowl is… here. Waita sec… aren't yah still supposed to be in Med-Bay, Prowlie?" she giggled.

Ironhide's optics fell on his little ward, and they narrowed.

"What did you say?" he asked her. She was still sitting on the floor

Auri sobered at his tone. "Um…" she frowned. Then she shrugged a little. "I… I… said…" she started to tear up. "Something…?" she didn't seem to know what she'd said.

Ironhide stood there looking down at her, wondering what to think.

Auri blinked at the tears.

Nobody moved.

Then Ironhide tilted his head a little. "You care to tell me what's going on?" he asked, but he already knew what was going on.

Auri ducked her head and tucked her wings and whimpered.

"I told you that much sweet-Energon on a low tank would make you hyper, did I not?" he asked sternly after a several seconds.

Auri nodded miserably.

"And yet you went behind my back and added a lot of it to your breakfast."

Auri nodded miserably a second time.

Ironhide sighed.

Prowl shifted very uncomfortably, thinking about punishment.

Ironhide looked over at the Second-in-Command and remembered a another sparkling who'd disobeyed him and had sweet Energon for breakfast as well.

He turned back to Auri. "What else did I say about that much sweet-Energon on a low, my femme-ling?" he asked less sternly.

Auri sniffled.

"Y-you said it would make me feel awful." She said.

"Uh-huhhhh. Do you think there was a reason why I wasn't going to let you have that much sweet-grade for breakfast?"

"Uh-huh," Auri nodded, stuffing her fists against her optics. "You didn't want me to feel awful…" she said, starting to cry. She should have listened to him…!

Ironhide grimaced. "Exactly." He said. And he stood there and didn't do anything. He didn't really know what he was going to do with her. He given sparkling Prowl a spanking for his similar crime, but then sparkling Prowl had needed one. Auri, he was pretty sure didn't need one.

"I'm gonna be in trouble…" Auri wailed softly, drawing her knees up and hiding her face in her arms on them.

Ironhide shook his head. He went over and knelt beside her and sat down. "You're not going to be in trouble with me, My Little One." He told her gently. "I think you've learned you lesson."

Auri nodded, rocking her whole frame as she did so. "Imma not ever do it again." Her voice was muffled but earnest.

"Okay." He rubbed her shoulder. "You need to set things straight with Ultra Magnus and Prowl, though."

"Yes, sir." She said then sighed as she calmed herself. Then her door-wings sagged very low. "I feel very sick…" she whimpered.

"A simple 'I'm sorry, may I talk with you later' will probably suffice for now." Ironhide told her gently. "And then I'll take back to our quarters and give you something to help you feel better."

"Okay." She said meekly.

Ironhide rose and gave her a hand up.

"I'm sorry Ultra Magnus…" Auri said softly, leaning against Ironhide. "May I talk with you later?"

"Yes, you may." Ultra Magnus said, "I hope you will feel better soon."

"Me too… I mean, thank-you." She was close to tears now.

Ironhide picked her up and cuddled her. "It's alright, My Sparkling, I'll take you home and make you feel better."

Auri sighed as comfort flowed over the guardian bond. That alone made her feel much better.

"See you, mechs." Ironhide said then exited.

Prowl sighed and sat down. Ultra Magnus sat back down as well. Both were quiet for a few minutes. Then Ultra Magnus broke the silence.

"She wasn't messing with my authority on purpose; she was just all charged up on sweet-Energon." Magnus said thoughtfully. "I am glad… in a way. I mean, I am sorry she is feeling badly, but I am glad that she was not deliberately crossing me."

Prowl nodded. "As am I." His optics traveled peacefully over his office. It was nice to be here; he'd missed it. "She is usually a very good little assistant."

"Oh, I can tell that." Ultra Magnus said with a smile. "And she's nearly as impossible as you are when it comes to having something done perfectly and exactly."

Prowl smiled ever so slightly. "That would be my fault. I praise perfection, so she always seeks it."

"Crazy door-winged perfectionists." Ultra Magnus said with a smile.

"Indeed." Prowl said, not displeased at all by the friendly name-calling. He was almost content there. He started to lean back in his chair a little…

"Oh…" he straightened with a resigned frown. "I promised to return immediately, so the poor junior medics helped me sneak out of Med-Bay. I must get back before Ratchet discovers my absence."

Ultra Magnus's optics widened with astonishment.

"Good day, Magnus. I hope the rest of it goes better."

"Th-thank-you." Magnus stuttered, still shocked over Prowl's confession.

Prowl opened the door and checked both ways. It was clear. He sprinted to the alley and then ducked behind a tank.

Well, that had taken longer than he'd expected. But, the junior medics hadn't sent him any desperate cries of help on the intercom. He hoped that was a good sign.

He peeked out from his hiding place to calculate the next leg of his return. The streets were a little busier now. It was going to be harder to get back.


	63. Chapter 63, Getting Back

Facebook is going quite well! About 10% of the people who have followed this story have liked Auri on facebook. And she keeps giving away little spoilers for the next chapters…

Sorry for the angst and stuff part way through… that's just how it turned out the first time I wrote it and then I couldn't figure out a way around it. Hopefully the fun that follows makes up for it.

* * *

Chapter 63

**Getting Back**

Prowl watched several Jeeps go past his hiding place. Then an aide from the business administration's office drove past in a silver sedan. Mirage cruised down the road.

Prowl frowned. The traffic had been light earlier when he'd been sneaking to his office. Now it was getting heavy. A little too heavy. He was never going to get back to Med-Bay at this rate.

Turning, he went the other direction up the alley. He managed to dart across the intersection to the next block without getting caught. He went to the end of that block then peeked out to see how the traffic was on that side. It was quiet, but two human allies were sitting on a tank and eating cheeseburgers.

Prowl turned back. People tended to take a long time to eat their cheeseburgers. Besides, something about the men's body language seemed to imply that they were going to be there for a while, working on the tank after they eventually finished their cheeseburgers.

He went back to the intersection. He couldn't go up either of those streets because there were some offices up them. People would see him out their windows. He went on back to where he'd started.

It was clear, actually! He could make it. It would have been better if he could have driven, but he wasn't going to break Ratchet's orders any more than he had to, and transforming was strictly off-limits. He sprinted to the next side street and halted by the building on it, standing close against the wall.

Then a frown crossed his face. The shades on the windows, which had been closed earlier, were now open. He wouldn't be able to go down this side-road without catching someone's attention. People, even desensitized ones, tended to notice when a giant robot walked past their windows.

He sized up the windows. He was far too big to duck, and he wasn't big enough to pick his feet up over them.

He looked over at the other building, the one on the opposite side of the street. Its windows were closed, but he spotted security cameras on it. He would get caught on tape if he went past that building.

What a hassle. He thought for a little while. The he switched to heat-sensing mode and focused in on the building behind him, specifically on the outer rooms that had open windows. With the heat-sensors, he located the warm human occupants. Only two would pose a threat to him.

He edged down the building until he came to the window of a room that housed a threat. He focused his heat-sensors in on the threat. She was on the internet. He felt out the internet. Ah, she was watching something on YouTube.

In that case, she was probably paying full attention to the screen before her. He wouldn't distract her as easily as he would a bored person. He slipped past her window and on down to the next threat-housing window.

The next threat was obviously bored. He was practically looking for distraction. Prowl twitched his wings. This would be harder. Prowl looked at the second story window. A speculative smirk crossed his face and was replaced by a thoughtful frown. He carefully reached over and up and carefully pushed the second-story window open. He felt around. His shoulder ached a little. There was a table. There was a heavy folder on the table. Prowl put his finger against his thumb and flicked the folder off. It made a bit of a thump on the floor.

The threat was distracted for a second and grew a little curious. Not enough curious, though. Prowl gave the table a nudge, making it slide a little, scraping on the floor. The threat grew more curious. Prowl, encouraged by this, gave the table a bigger nudge. And he ended up overturning it. It hit something else and sent another thing crashing to the floor. It made a definite racket.

Prowl winced. He may have over done it. It achieved the desired result, though. The threat got up and headed out of his office to go upstairs to investigate the commotion. With the lower window now clear, Prowl closed the upper window and hurried away. His shoulder ached a lot now.

The next legs of his trip proceeded with less difficultly, but they still took time. Prowl made steady progress most of the way, and then he came to a more busy part of the city-complex that had risen up since the Autobots' arrival. Prowl stopped and hid as a tanker rumbled down the road. Arcee and Bumblebee were walking up the road the other direction. Prowl could hear a tank making slow progress up the road as well.

This did not bode well. He sat and took out a data-pad to calculate some other ways he might be able to get back to Med-Bay. All of them seemed painfully long, and the ache in his shoulder was growing. It definitely hurt now. He rubbed his shoulder to see if he could rub a little of the pain away.

His hand seemed too cool against his shoulder, and his shoulder seemed too hot. This wasn't good.

A shadow fell over him.

"Did you stop to think that there might have been a reason why I was keeping you in Med-Bay?" Ratchet's voice asked.

Prowl thought of Ironhide's question to Auri. '_Do you think there was a reason why I wasn't going to let you have that much sweet-grade for breakfast?'_

"You didn't want me to feel awful…?" Prowl asked, using Auri's words for his answer as he looked up at the medic.

"Yeah. Basically." Ratchet said, crouching down with a serious look on his face.

Prowl lowered his optics, feeling like a youngling.

"I needed your body temperature to remain within only a few degrees of variation." Ratchet said. "I found that there were strands of virus coding in the wound and I needed it to remain a constant temperature so they wouldn't activate until I had created and tested an antidote."

"And you didn't tell me this?"

"I knew you'd only fret and panic if I told you."

"You could have at least told your junior medics!" Prowl protested, starting to panic.

"I should have." Ratchet admitted quietly. "I won't make that mistake again, though."

Prowl looked at him with consternation.

"It will be alright." Ratchet told him. "I have the antidote now. I've just finished testing it, and it works perfectly."

"Oh." Prowl said.

"Yeah." Ratchet said, "Come on." He gave Prowl a hand up, which Prowl accepted gratefully, and they headed back to Med-Bay at a slow pace.

"I am sorry." Prowl said after they'd walked a block.

"You should be." Ratchet told him. Then he spoke more kindly. "It's alright. I just hope you'll learn something from this."

Prowl nodded. "I shall endeavor to not repeat these actions."

Ratchet smiled ever so slightly at the smaller bot beside him. "Adding what I heard from Ironhide about Auri's breakfast, I say that you door-wingers had it in for yourselves today."

"Unfortunately." Prowl said with a half-smile. "Well, at least Bee wasn't involved."

Ratchet chuckled. "I saw him walking around with Sunny and Sides; he could get himself in trouble yet."

Prowl shook his head. "Bee is too smart to fall for joining them in their shenanigans."

"True." Ratchet said. "Quite true."

Prowl put his hand to his shoulder again.

"Hurts?" Ratchet asked.

"Not as badly as it did a little earlier." Prowl said honestly.

"Hmmm." Ratchet was intrigued. "Your immune functions may be handling it. If this virus was similar to an earlier virus you had, your immune-function may have simply rewrote a copy of an old immune code to formulate a new antiviral code."

Prowl nodded. He usually just nodded when Ratchet started talking like that.

"That would be a very good thing." Ratchet said as he opened the Med-Bay door for Prowl. Prowl went in and made a bee-line for his berth.

He lay down on his front and sighed as he realized how tired he felt.

Ratchet scanned the wound carefully and processed the data.

"I think your system may be able to combat the virus without extra help," he said after a minute.

"Okay." Prowl murmured. That would be good; he hated antivirus shots for some reason that he couldn't remember at present…

"I will monitor your condition very, very closely, though." Ratchet said, setting up a device that would give him continuous feedback on Prowl's condition.

"Mm-hm…" Prowl barely acknowledged him.

"Sleep it off, Prowl-Bot." Ratchet said with a smile, and Prowl didn't respond.

OoOoOoOoO

Auri was a miserable little heap on the couch for a while once Ironhide got her back home. She just didn't feel good at all, and the stuff Ironhide gave her didn't seem to be working.

She cried a little because she felt bad, and because she'd been bad, and because Ultra Magnus had gotten a really bad impression of her. Everything was bad, or so she thought.

Ironhide sat on a stool and leaned his back against the wall and an arm on the table, sprawling in an easy-going manner. He was a little nonplussed at present, though, despite his relaxed appearance. Auri had wanted to be left alone, so he was here at the table. He wasn't sure what to do with her next. He knew the tablet he'd given her would kick in soon and ease some of the internal discomfort she was feeling, but beyond that, the future was uncertain.

Auri quit crying and then sniffled a little. Then she sighed and seemed to feel better. Then she dozed off into recharge.

"Hm." Ironhide got up. Recharge would do the trick for his femme-ling. He went over and sat on the couch near her while he worked on a report for Ultra Magnus. Prowl would eventually getting the report, so he had to do it to Prowl's standards.

Almost an hour passed before Auri stirred. Then, blinking her optics, she slowly awoke and gazed up at Ironhide.

"Did you recharge well, my Sparkling?" he asked.

She smiled and nodded. "I feel better, too." She said, getting up to hug him.

"Good. I'm glad." He snuggled her for a minute. "You'd probably better be getting things ready for your meeting or whatever with Agent Sora."

"Oh! Yes!" Auri, suddenly aware of the time, pulled out of his arms. "I'd better-" she bounced off the couch and went to get her data-pad. She sat at the table and worked on revising and reviewing the schedule that she'd planned a while back. Ironhide worked on reformatting an older cannon into a better one. And as he did so, he paid close attention to Auri's behavior without seeming to. She was still a little more energetic than usual. She hummed more songs than usual, humming each one for a shorter duration before moving to another one than she usually did. And her door-wings moved around a bit more, too.

"Okay-dokey!" She said presently, going over and hugging Ironhide. "I'm off to see the liaison, the wonderful liaison of NEST."

Ironhide chuckled softly at her sing-song tone. "Don't be too hyper for her, alright?"

Auri kissed his hand with an affected air. "I shall be perfect." She said with a mock British accent, fluttering her wings as she bowed. Ironhide gazed at her doubtfully, but the next moment she was skipping out the door.

The drive to the meeting place was uneventful. Auri got there and waited.

She waited.

She checked the time and waited some more.

Soon Amy was fifteen minutes late and counting.

Auri took out a data-pad to read but couldn't focus on it. She called Amy's cell phone, but she got sent to voicemail. She hung up, repulsed at the thought of leaving a recorded message. "Far too weird." She sent a text instead.

Nothing worked.

"Where are you…?" She wondered out loud.

Finally, a good thirty minutes late, Amy Sora pulled up in the NEST sedan. She parked, got out, and slammed the door shut. Then she smoothed back her already smooth hair and headed over to where Auri was recharging in the sunshine.

The human had been really mad, but the sleeping robot child made her smile and cool down.

"Hi…?" she ventured. She wasn't sure how to wake up a sleeping robot. "Auri?"

Auri stirred a little at her name. Her optics opened and blinked on. "Oh, you're here now?" she asked sleepily with a pleased note.

"Yes." Amy said as Auri sat up, "And I'm really sorry that I'm late. The car would just quit every time I stopped it fully."

"Hmph." Auri said, making a face. That dumb car had just had a tune-up; it should have been fine. "I think we'll have to get you a different car. Or else make this one stop stopping every time you stop it."

Amy raised an eyebrow in a curious and amused expression at Auri's word usage. Then she nodded. "If you if could, that would be great."

"Mmm…" Auri wrote something on her data-pad and then clicked it. "All done." She said happily.

"Thank-you." Amy said, smiling up at her.

"You are welcome. Okay-dokey, now. You want a tour of the Autobot-related buildings, I do believe?"

Amy nodded. "That is correct."

Auri transformed into car-mode and opened a door. "I won't quit every time I stop." She said cockily.

"I should hope not." Amy said, chuckling at the bot's humor.

"Where first, Scotty?" Auri asked, revving her engine as Amy buckled her seat-belt. She had a list of buildings but wasn't sure which would interest her liaison.

"W-what's nearest?" _Scotty?_

"Uhh-um-um, well…" Auri calculated then paused. "Wellllll, the showers."

"Oh..!" Amy laughed, but she was rather curious.

"I can show you those. They're nothing weird or strange. Juuuuust big."

"Okay." Amy said. Then she wondered something. Was Auri always this chipper?

The drive was a short one, and soon Amy found herself staring up at a giant building. They went into the entry area then there were two doors.

"Mechs' side," Auri said, motioning to the door with a bulky, cannon-bearing silhouette. "That's actually Ironhide's silhouette, simplified."

"Ah, I see that now." Well, that was interesting.

"And Chromia ended up on the femmes' side. Posing to accentuate the positive, so she says."

"Uh-huh…" she could see that.

"Ironhide simplified, Chromia amplified." Auri summed up, giggling.

They went in the femmes' side.

"Towels, soaps, clothes, scrub-brushes…" Auri listed, motioning to assorted shelves in the entryway. "And polishes, too." She added with a smile.

"No girls' room complete without those." Amy said smiling.

Auri giggled then led the way into the main showering area.

"Whoa…" Amy stopped at stared up at the sheer height of the showerheads. "Very tall." She commented in awe.

"Well, we are very tall comparatively." Auri said with a nod, looking around.

"Um…? It's not really private." Amy ventured.

Auri shook her head. "Just so the mechs don't see us." She said, "That's all. We're different from humans in that way, too."

"Okay…" Amy smiled, making some notes. She looked around. "No writing on the walls?" she asked.

"What do you mean?"

Amy looked sheepish. "Girls in high-school write stuff on the bathroom walls… usually writing their names with the names of boys they like, or which one they think is cute."

Auri looked taken aback.

"Ummm… guess not."

OoOoOoOoO

'_Okay, back on base now; now I've got some decisions to make._' Flareup thought to herself. '_Do I go report to Prowlie first? Shower first? Go to my quarters and get a change of armor first? Or go to Ratchet first?_'

She walked slowly, choosing her streets carefully to avoid as many bots and people as possible.

'_Looking dirty and beat up will play on Prowlie's sympathy, and I can get the report deadline moved back. Shower sounds sooo nice, though. Shower, then see Prowlie? Then see Ratchet then get new armor?_' She ducked to avoid Sunny and Sides. _'I am missing rather much, though. I should probably get the change of armor first._' She peeked out. _'I'm too slaggin' tired to decide, blast it._'

She stepped out and went on. '_I'm too slaggin' tired to decided, and I'm too slaggin' tired to care. I'll go get Prowlie to move the report deadline, and then I'll shower and go recharge. Prowlie will have a fit when he sees me like this… whatever…_' she concluded, looking down at herself. She was mostly covered in the front, except for a lopsided triangular place from her middle that went all the way to her back. The back was the worst. From her left shoulder down to just above her waist, the armoring had been fairly destroyed. '_Blasted clawed things…_' she thought, shuddering as she recalled the pain. Those things had had wicked claws, strong, too. She still had some gashes healing. She was never going back to that planet again.

She sensed someone approaching and looked around quickly. Ironhide was walking towards her with a very dark expression on his face.

'_Oh, scrap.'_ She turned and ran. '_He's gonna to kill for running around with my proto-form exposed! It's like I want to show bare stuff, but I doubt he's gonna stop to let me explain that!_ _Stupid overprotective mech!_' She jumped into car-mode and tore off before Ironhide could even access his transform sequencing device.

He had it a split-second later, though, and tore after her.

'_No, no, no…!'_ She thought frantically. '_Where on earth can I go where he can't? Ah! Femmes only. –Showers! I needed a shower anyway.'_

She dared not exceed the speed limit, knowing the Prowl would lay the consequences on harshly if she did, but she had the maneuverability advantage that Ironhide's big old truck form lacked. She could take sharp curves without slowing much, but he had to decrease his speed every time he rounded a corner. She also had a head start on him.

She reached the shower-house with him about a block's-distance behind her. She fairly snapped into bipedal-mode and bolted through the entry-doors and into the femmes' side of the wash, slamming the door shut in her haste.

"Shoot! That mech's fast." Her cooling systems were gusting a little from the sudden, unprepared-for dash.

"Hey." Ironhide banged a fist on the door once.

"You can't come in here, _mech__!_" Flareup yelled.

"You get back out here, Flareup." He ordered. "Now."

"No, I'd prefer to stay here, thank-you." Flareup told him.

"I'll come in and get you if you won't come out."

"You **can't** come in here!"

"Would you like to see me try?"

'_Oh, stupid me-! But of course he would come in the femmes' side! He's Ironhide. Only Ironhide...' _Flareup looked around in aggravation. Auri was standing near the wall staring at her with wide startled optics. Triumph. "I'm NOT the only femme in here, so you CAN'T come in!" she called back.

"Who." Ironhide wanted to know.

Flareup hesitated.

"Just me," Auri called in a worried voice.

"Are you decent?" Ironhide asked.

Flareup shook her head vigorously, mouthing, _NO!_ _NO!_

Auri hesitated. He wouldn't come in if she said she was indecent. He wouldn't know. It would be wrong to lie to him, though. Flareup really wanted her to say no. He would want her to tell the truth. Flareup…

"Y-yes… I'm decent." Auri said in a little voice.

"Glitchin' traitor!" Flareup protested to Auri as Ironhide slid the door open. One second Flareup was scowling at the little femme. The next second she yelped as Ironhide grabbed her, and then she found herself on her knees facing the floor, bent over his knee. "No!" she gasped. "Ironhide, no, _NO!_"

"One," Ironhide said swatting her hard across the after-plating. "Don't you _ever_ call Auri a glitchin' traitor again." she shook her head vigorously, "And, two," Ironhide went on, and she almost yelped as he gave an even harder swat, "Don't you ever," she whimpered at the third swat, "_Ever_ even _think_ about telling her to lie to me again." He paused to let his words sink in. "Is that understood?"

She nodded, "Y-yes, sir."

He gently brought her up off his knee and let her sit on the floor as he sat down.

The room was quiet and still then. Flareup sat staring at her hands in her lap as she processed what had happened. 'Hide had never spanked her like that before. He had to be really serious then. Well, he was very serious about her, and about Auri. "Glitchin traitor" wasn't exactly a nice thing to say. And Auri was the most loyal little femme-bot she knew. A tear welled up in each optic as she realized that she could have brutally hurt her little friend's feelings with those words.

As for telling the femme-ling to lie to her guardian… now that she thought about it, that was a wretched thing to do. Autobots didn't lie to each other. They just didn't. It was considered one of the worst things a bot could do. And then to call her an ugly name for being true to her guardian…

The tears spilled over, and Flareup's shoulders began to shake as she started to cry.

Ironhide let her cry for just a few seconds. Then he reached over and put a hand on her to comfort her, gently caressing her shoulder with his thumb.

"It will be alright," he told her gently.

She sobbed harder and put her hand over his, needing to be close to someone. He kept his hand there for her until her tears subsided, which they did fairly soon. She never was one to cry for a long time.

She calmed down and sighed. "That w-was horrible of me, Auri-Bot." she said, humbly, keeping her optics down. "I'm sorry."

Auri went over and sat down in front of her and took the older femme's hands in hers. "It's alright," she said softly. "It's alright." She said again. Then she hesitated. "Can I hug you?"

Flareup smiled despite herself. "Yeah. Just not too tightly."

Auri gave her a gentle embrace, taking care not to aggravate her back in any way. "I think you had a bad trip." She said.

Flareup chuckled without mirth. "To put it blandly, yeah." She said drily. Then she sighed. Auri sat down across from her.

"Why'd you run from me?" Ironhide asked gently.

Flareup snorted. "You just busted my aft and you're asking why I ran from you?"

"I busted your aft_er-plating_ because you told Auri to lie to me." Ironhide corrected.

Flareup shrugged. "True. But, it's similar. I thought you were coming at me with a glare for missing a large bit of armor. After what happened with my armor last time, I wasn't inclined to risk it again. –I know you punished me for cussing you out, and not for skimping on the armor. I just didn't feel like going through some similar sort of scene again."

Ironhide frowned with concern. "I was glaring because I was worried about you, not because I was mad at you."

"Oh…" '_Duh! Flareup. Why didn't you think of that?'_

Ironhide smiled. "I may be many eons your senior, but my optics are as good as any. I could tell it was destruction and not seduction."

Auri giggled at the two rhyming words. Flareup grinned at the little femme. "My armor reduction was not seduction; simply, merely predatory destruction." She rhymed, encouraging some light-heartedness. If she could make Auri happy, everything would be alright.

Auri laughed outright, easily entertained by words as always, and Amy Sora, who'd been frightened into hiding behind a bench, couldn't help but chuckle at Auri's amusement.

Flareup saw the human then for the first time.

"WhhhhoOAEEEEEE!" Her yell morphed into a scream as she jumped up.

"Mouse reaction." Ironhide said to Amy, smirking as Amy stared in surprise.

"How'd you get in here?" Flareup yelped at the liaison, not noting Ironhide's smirk.

"She's a liaison, and I was showing her around." Auri said, giggling Flareup's strong reaction.

"What were you doing bringing her in here?" Flareup squeaked.

"I was showing her around." Auri repeated.

"You don't just randomly bring humans places!" Flareup protested, her voice still a little high.

"Uhh…"

"You just donnn't!" Flareup waved her hands agitatedly.

Auri couldn't help but stare at Flareup's overreaction. Amy was staring as well.

Ironhide was a good mech. Most of the time. "Calm down, Flare." He said. "She's a perfectly hygienic human. We even let her sit on the table last night."

Auri gasped, shocked at Ironhide's wickedness, and then clapped her hands over her mouth to keep from laughing.

"You WHAT?" Flareup fairly shrieked.

Ironhide chuckled, a great grin on his face. "We surrre did!"

"I hate you!" Flareup shrieked as she darted over and grabbed a cube of soap and hurled it him.

"Hey, hey! It's the truth!" Ironhide laughed as he ducked the soap.

"Augh!" Flareup looked for something else to throw at him. "That's not decent!"

"She was perfectly decent." Ironhide said, grinning even more. "She sat there and chatted with us while we drank our Energon cubes."

"Ghuuuah!" Flareup gave him a look of horrified disgust.

Ironhide laughed outright.

Flareup decided that she didn't care if there only soap cubes to throw. She was going to throw them. She grabbed two and hurled the first one at the mech. He caught it.

"Calm down," he said, still laughing,

She lowered the second cube and gazed at him. He knew she didn't care much for humans, and he was intentionally baiting her. Bad mech.

He tried to look sober, but his optics and mouth wouldn't cooperate.

"L-listen, Flareup." He said, trying to sound conciliatory but failing,

She threw the cube so fast that he didn't have time to respond. It hit him in the upper chest and broke, sending a flood of liquid soap down his front.

There was a shocked silence in the shower-house for several moments.

Auri was rather aback at all that had taken place, but Flareup breaking a soap cube on Ironhide was almost beyond calculating. And it was almost funny, too. Then she was horrified as the thought struck her.

Amy wanted to laugh at the startled look on Ironhide's face, but she didn't want to cause any more trouble.

Flareup was delighted that she'd actually hit Ironhide, but she'd not expected the cube to break. She was half-way between wanting to apologize and wanting to laugh her plating off.

Ironhide simply couldn't believe what had just happened to him. He slowly moved his hand and put his fingers in the light pink soap as if to see if it was actually real. It was. Wow…

He looked over at Auri. Her optics were very, very wide as she stared at him. Ironhide smiled.

"It's just soap, Little One." He told her reassuringly, "You don't have to look so appalled."

Auri lowered her door-wings a little from their high up-twitched position.

Ironhide glanced over at Flareup.

She was smirking now.

Ironhide looked down at the soap again and chuckled. "I guess I did ask for it."

"Like slag you did." She said smugly.

"Hey, language." He reminded her.

"Sorry." She said with sideways nod. She went slowly over back to near where Ironhide was. Then she stopped and eyed the liaison at Auri's feet.

"I'm not scared of humans." Flareup told her. "Just unexpected ones bother me when they show up."

Amy smiled. "I can understand that." She said sincerely.

"Mouse reaction." Ironhide said as if making a point.

Flareup turned and glared at him, clenching a fist in his direction. "I wasn't that bad." She told him. "And I didn't jump up on anything."

Ironhide smirked. "I bet you would've if you could've."

"Innnnsufferable!"

Ironhide chuckled, pleased.

"That's Elita's soap." Auri said, motioning to Ironhide's chest, hoping the subject change would stop the two bigger bots from doing anymore of what they were doing. It worked.

Ironhide stopped chuckling. "Are you sure?" he asked.

Auri nodded. "It has that distinctive sweet smell."

Flareup smirked. "That's not its only property." She said, "It has rose-color-enhancement qualities."

"Sl…." Ironhide broke off. Calling Flareup on bad language wasn't going to do much good if he used it himself. He hurried towards the door.

"You gonna wash in the mechs' side?" Flareup called teasingly after him.

"Of course I am!"

Flareup laughed. "It's sure gonna smell sweet over there."

"Slaggit." He knew she was right. It would leave its sweet smell over there, and the other mechs would wonder. And they'd really wonder when they smelled him.

He came away from the door.

"Y'know, when I was a bit younger," he said, "I started teasing Chromia about something. She turned around and whacked me in the face, and kicked me in the midsection. Knocked me completely off balance and onto my backside."

Flareup snickered.

"In front of a couple of the other mechs, too." Ironhide added with a reminiscent grimace, "I _should_ have learned right then and there not to tease femmes."

"But you didn't." Flareup said with a fond smile, watching as he sauntered over and picked up a squeegee.

"Nope." he said, grinning cheekily. "You all are just too much fun."

Flareup chuckled. She loved it when Ironhide talked about femmes like that.

"And now I'm gonna be rinsing off in your side of the shower-house." He said ruefully.

Flareup chuckled at him again and moved to find another cube to put the remnant of Elita's soap in.

Ironhide began slicking the extra soap off his torso so that it wouldn't be so hard to wash off. "Oh." He groaned. "Ohhh… Great. Elita's pink-tone enhancement soap has given my black armor a slight burgundy hue."

Flareup grinned as Auri started giggling. "Let me see." Flare said, turning eagerly. Indeed, the ebony mech's front has a dark reddish tinge to it. Complements of her. "Oh! HAH!"

"Hm…" Ironhide looked down at his chest again as the Flareup whooped with laughter and Auri lost control of her giggles. And the liaison wanted to be polite and not laugh, but pressing her hands over her mouth wasn't quite doing the trick. A smile touched Ironhide' lips and made his optics twinkle. The femmes were all laughing at him; he might as well enjoy it. After all, what mech didn't enjoy being the center of femmes' attention?


	64. Chptr 64, Sisters, Lies, Candy, & Tales

So, this chapter is a little shorter than they usually are… but it had to either be short, or leave you crying, or be too long, so I went for short. And plus, with it short, I can update sooner! Hopefully. ;)

Also! Out of the blue, I wrote a prequel song-fic for Auri's story. I heard the song on the radio, and several weeks later I suddenly realized how perfect it would be for a song fic for little Auri. Anyways, It's called "Closing Time."Check it out if you like. :)

http :/ www. fanfiction .net/s/7986955/1/Closing_Time

* * *

Chapter 64

**Sisters, Lies, Candies, and Tales**

Once the femmes finished laughing at Ironhide, Flareup gave Auri a skeptical look. "Why is that human in here, again?" she asked.

Auri rolled her optics then narrowed them. "For the third time," she said, "She is a liaison, and I was showing her around."

Flareup gave Amy another look over. "She's a little too small for these showers, why show them to her?"

"She wants to know about _us_ and how we live on earth." Auri said, a little exasperated.

"Oooooo…" Flareup said, raising her chin knowingly. "I see."

"Good." Auri said, relieved.

"She's a snoop." Flareup said matter-of-factly.

"She's not a snoop!" Auri protested.

"Yes, she is." Flareup said firmly.

"She is not! She wants to know more about us so that people can understand us better so we can work together better! She's a liaison! She helps communications between two groups!"

"That the story they fed you?"

"No, I came up with that myself, you psychic!"

"Psychic…?"

"CYNIC!" Auri howled as she realized her mistake.

Flareup chuckled.

Auri glared at her. "She's not a snoop, and she's here to help Autobot-Human relations, so there." She told Flareup, jutting her little chin out.

Flareup smiled and backed down, impressed with her little sister's unusual feistiness. "Alright." She said.

"And her name is Amy Sora." Auri added.

"Did you come up with that yourself, too?" Flareup asked, teasing.

"Flareup, she's not like a pet that we give a name to. She came with that name." Auri explained with almost a long-suffering Prowl-like air.

Flareup felt her spark soften, and she lost the desire to keep teasing. She went over and gave Auri a hug. "I know that." She said, using a more gentle tone. "I was teasing when I shouldn't have."

"Honestly…" Auri sighed.

"I know. I'm incorrigible." Flareup kissed her the top of her head. "But I do love you, My Sister. I'm sorry, and I'll try to stop picking on your liaison."

"Thank-you." Auri cuddled against the taller femme, "The twins already hate her."

Ironhide made a sound of disapproval. The femmes looked over. He was still slicking the soap off. He shook his head at Auri. "'Hate' is a very harsh word, My Auri. People tend to use it pretty loosely, using it for everything they dislike, but I don't want you to get into that habit."

Auri glanced down. "I hadn't thought of that…"

"That's why I told you." Ironhide said gently, encouraging her.

Auri looked back up at Flareup. "They have very strong feelings of dislike towards her." She amended.

"Yeah, well, they tend to not like anything with the title of liaison."

"One more thing," Ironhide said, giving Amy an apologetic look.

"Yes, sir?" Auri asked.

"Agent Sora is standing right there; you ought not talk about her like she's in inanimate object." Ironhide explained, "You wouldn't talk about Bee or the twins or Prowl like that if they were standing there, so you shouldn't talk about Sora like that either."

"Actually, we can talk about Prowl like he's not there." Flareup said. "And sometimes he'll refer to himself in the third person and weird us all out."

"That aside." Ironhide said, less than pleased with her sidetracked remark. "Don't talk about Sora like she's not here. Understood?"

"Yes, sir." Flareup said, shaping up at his tone.

"Yes, sir." Auri echoed. "I'm sorry, Agent Amy. I wasn't meaning to be rude to you."

Amy smiled up at her. "It's alright. It will help humans in the future."

"Yay." Flareup said flatly.

Auri shot her a firm look.

"Sorry." Flareup said, snuggling a little more. "I'll be less snarky tomorrow."

"Yah better be." Auri growled.

"Auri, be nice." Ironhide said, frowning a little as he realized he probably should have quieted the argument between the two young femmes when it had first started.

"Yes, sir." Auri said as she hugged Flareup a little closer.

Ironhide gave Amy another apologetic look. "At least now you know that Cybertronian siblings bicker even as earth siblings do."

Flareup made a noise of disappointed irritation, and Auri, now slightly embarrassed by her behavior said, "Oh…"

Ironhide smiled over at his two femme-lings and then stepped towards a facet with reluctance.

Flareup perked up. "Gonna actually get wet now?" she asked Ironhide teasingly.

"Yes." He said grimly.

"He has a phobia regarding rust." Auri explained to Sora.

"He can actually take a shower in just under five minutes and come out perfectly clean." Flareup added.

"You femmes wanna quit talking about me like _I'm _not standing right here?" Ironhide asked, trying to decide whether to be amused by them or discomfited. "Water isn't a common element on our home planet." he told Sora as he activated a facet. "DAH!" he jumped out from under the water.

Flareup looked expectant, and Auri giggled.

"That's - uh, very cold!" Ironhide gave the water a perturbed look.

"It takes a minute to warm up." Auri said. "We femmes always wash before you mechs do, so the water in the pipes is already warm by the time you get to it." She explained with a pert little grin.

"Ah… I see." Ironhide stuck his fingers in the water to test it. Then he stepped under. "That is a lot of bubbles." He said grimly as Elita's soap foamed up.

"You're gonna smell so sweeeeeet..!" Flareup teased.

"Mmmmm…!" Auri heaved an exaggerated sigh.

"Gonna smell like a Cybertronian crystal garden…!" Flareup added.

"Oooo, la-la…!" Auri added, giggling as she pretended to swoon in Flareup's arms.

"Dreamy…!" Flareup sighed, catching Auri and fanning herself.

"You femme-lings wanna stop it?" Ironhide asked. He wasn't that bothered by them; he was rather amused, in fact, but poor Amy was about to suffocate herself from trying to be polite and not laugh.

"Oh, I'm sorry!" Flareup apologized. "I'm not being helpful, am I! I'll go get you a nice scrubby cloth."

"That won't be necessary. Just get me a scrub-brush so I can paddle your behind." Ironhide told her, teasing her back.

"Uh, no-thanks. I'll get you a towel instead." Flareup scampered off to get a drying towel.

She came back with a plain white towel.

"Thank-you." Ironhide turned off the shower and took the towel. He paused. "We mechs actually have nicer towels than you femmes have." He said, the surprise sounding in his voice.

Flareup snatched the towel back and smacked it with him. "That because we actually **_use_** them, and they get worn out."

Ironhide chuckled. "Firm logic." He took the towel back and began to dry himself.

"Actually." Flareup said in a contemplative tone, "Prowl probably uses a towel because he's so finicky about looks. No water-spots on him." She smirked. "And he doesn't mess with femmes' soap that tints paint, either." She added.

"I don't think you're ever going to live this down." Amy said, eyeing the big mech's ruined paint.

Ironhide shook his head. "Indeed. And they're going to tell the other femmes, and the other femmes are going to tell their mechs, and their mechs are going to tell the other mechs."

"But," Flareup said Amy, "He's a weapons specialist, so they'll know better than to mess with him."

"Got that right." Ironhide said.

"Or," Auri said, "We could just not tell anybody."

Ironhide chuckled.

"Ever the optimist." Flareup said. Then she grinned. "Have you driven Prowl crazy yet?"

"Of course not!" Auri protested. "We are getting along fine. Well, he _is_ slightly aggravated with me and Ultra Magnus not getting along; he called us sparklings."

"Wish I'd been there to see that. Prowl to Magnus: 'sparkling!'"

Auri winced. "It wasn't like that."

"Where do you femmes put your towels when you're done with them?" Ironhide asked. Then he grimaced. They heard Chromia laughing as she came into the shower-house.

"You stop it, Optimus Prime!" another femme's voice said with delight.

"I intend never to stop it, My Elita." More femme laughter followed the Prime's statement.

"Okay," Chromia's voice said, "But you can't come in our side of the showers, so you'll have to put it on hold."

"I can do hold." Came Prime's answer. There was a soft clank of metal, and Amy supposed he had put his arms around Elita to hold her.

"Why don't we do 'hold' tonight after the work is done?" Elita suggested, sounding pleased.

"Very well." Prime said. "I will see you later."

Ironhide turned his back to the door and hid his face in the towel as Chromia and Elita came into the femmes' shower-room.

"Well!" Chromia said with surprise. "Hello!"

"Fairest greetings, Oh fairest of Femmes." Ironhide replied, not daring to turn.

"I don't remember sending an invite, Mine," Chromia said as she eyed his back with pleasure. "But it gives me no end of delight that you accepted." She told him as she came over and ran her fingers up his body.

Ironhide chuckled and sent Flareup a glare. He dropped the towel and grabbed Chromia around and hugged her with her back against his front, hiding his ruined paint. The action surprised Chromia somewhat, but she was more than pleased to be held by him and snuggled against him more firmly as he kissed her neck. Elita raised an optic-ridge.

"Good to see you back again, My Flareup." Chromia said to the younger femme.

"Good to be back." Flareup said warmly, but she was getting on guard for what trouble would come next.

Chromia sniffed. Something smelled strongly of Elita's soap. She glanced over at Elita. Elita was smelling it, too, and appeared to think it odd. It was just a smell, though, nothing serious, and Flareup was there.

"Welcome back to earth, Flareup." Elita greeted Flareup graciously as Chromia sniffed again.

"Thank-you commander." Flareup said, dipping her head as she spoke in a softer tone than Amy had heard her use before.

"Your travels were rough, I think." Elita inquired, motioning to Flareup's midriff as Chromia wriggled in Ironhide's grasp and gave him an odd look.

"Indeed, they were; rough and strenuous, and I'm glad to be back among my own kind and faction." Flareup replied as Chromia sniffed Ironhide suspiciously.

"My Commander," Auri said respectfully, "Have you yet met Agent Sora?"

Elita's optics fell on Amy Sora with a little surprise. "I have not." She said. She came over and crouched down before Amy. "I am Elita-One, Femme Commander." She said, "And Optimus Prime's spark-mate."

"I am honored to meet you." Amy said, slightly awestruck by Elita's regality and not much distracted by Chromia's movements.

Elita dipped her head slightly with a touch of a smile. "I understand you are here to get to know us better?"

"Yes… Yes, I am." Amy said, now slightly distracted by Chromia. Ironhide really wasn't letting the femme go.

"Good. I wish you all success." Elita said.

"You'll probably want to wish her luck, too." Chromia stopped wrestling with Ironhide long enough to quip.

"With Auri as her handler, I believe she already has a fair enough portion of luck." Elita said, smiling as Auri fairly blushed at the compliment. Chromia grinned, very pleased. Elita rose.

"Uninvited as you are, Ironhide," Elita said with a bit of a skeptical smile as she approached the mech, "Curiosity presses me to ask why you are in here."

"I just needed his help with my mangled dorsal armoring." Flareup said quickly, motioning to her back.

Auri gasped softly. Elita had been addressing Ironhide, but Flareup had spoken, AND she had spoken a lie.

Chromia felt her mech stiffen and felt his disappointment over their bond.

"Did you just lie to Elita?" Chromia demanded incredulously. Ironhide didn't restrain her, and she stepped towards Flareup.

Flareup looked away. "Yeah." She said, ashamed now.

"I've told you-"

"Chromia," Elita stopped her with a gentle word. Chromia turned, a fighting look on her face.

"She's not getting away with this." Chromia told Elita, "She's in for it." She said, turning back towards Flareup. Flareup braced herself.

"Wait." Elita laid her fingertips on Chromia's shoulder.

Flareup eyed them watchfully. She hated to get lectures from Chromia, but if Elita decided to pitch in a few words in front of everybody else, it would be unbearable.

Elita glanced around and saw Ironhide's tinted chest. She gave him a slightly odd look then refocused. "Chromia,"

Now Chromia was staring at Ironhide's chest with a very odd look on her face. She sniffed at Ironhide again certainly as if to prove a point. Then she looked back. "Yes, Elita?"

"Verbal reprimand has not worked so far, has it?" Elita asked, looking over at Flareup before looking back to Chromia.

Chromia shook her head. "It has not."

"What, then, do we do if something does not work?" Elita asked.

"Try harder." Chromia said, glancing over at Ironhide. What had he done…?

Elita paused. "And if that does not work?" she asked.

Chromia hesitated, considering this. Usually if trying harder didn't work with something, she threw it against the wall and walked away. She didn't do that with bots, though. She glanced at Ironhide again. Crazy mech. "Try something different?" she asked.

Elita nodded. "Yes."

"If I knew of something different that would work, I would do it." Chromia said, glancing at Flareup then at Ironhide again before looking back at Elita.

Elita kept a steady gaze on Chromia.

::Seriously. I've pretty much run out of ideas.:: Chromia told her over the intercom. Then she motioned towards Flareup with her fingers, indicating that Elita was free to do as she pleased.

Flareup saw this and lowered her head. She idolized Elita more than any femme in the universe, and now she was miserable. She was going to get a talking to or worse in front of Auri and everybody from Elita…!

"Flareup," Elita said gently. "Will you come talk with me in the entryway?"

Flareup nodded, and her anguish decreased. Elita motioned for her to go first then followed her. She wasn't going to get a talking to in front of the others.

Flareup stood, waiting for Elita to speak.

Elita looked back at the occupants in the main shower room. Ironhide looked like he was explaining something to Chromia, and she was grinning heartily at him. Auri was sitting on the floor and talking with her Agent. They wouldn't overhear her. "Flareup," she said gently, hesitating a little as she figured out which words to use, "You have a good reputation. You've done well on all your missions, and you've fought valiantly on the battlefields. You're loyal to your friends, and loyal to the Autobots. All this good, and it is you. It is your character."

Flareup listened but didn't make optic-contact.

"Every lie you tell strips away part of that character. It destroys part of you. It undermines your good reputation. I do not think you want that."

Flareup shook her head slowly.

"I think many times you simply lie without thinking about it. You need to become aware of it, Flareup. Keep track of it. Then think before you speak. And take punishment when you lie."

Flareup shifted her shoulders uncomfortably.

Elita stood in thoughtful silence for several moments, watching Flareup. She was a pretty femme, and she wore golden armor-jewelry to accent her form. Elita had not really noticed the jewelry before, for it had always seemed like it was just part of Flareup's armor.

"Your jewelry," Elita said, motioning to Flareup's arms, "It is like a part of you, is it not?"

Flareup nodded hesitantly.

Elita paused, knowing she was going to ask a hard thing of this young femme. Then she spoke softly. "Will you forfeit a piece of it for two days every time you lie?" she asked.

Flareup's optics grew wide, and she instinctively covered some of the arm jewelry with her hands.

"Your lies take away part of you, Flareup." Elita said, "Losing some of your golden bands would be symbolic of this."

Flareup looked down at her prized ornaments. She could see that Elita was right. She sighed. It would hurt to go without her pretty gold bands… but it would hurt more to go without a good character.

Slowly, she moved her right hand over to her left arm and took off the upper banding on it. She held it in both hands for a moment and then held it out for Elita to take.

Elita hadn't been expecting Flareup to give the jewelry over to her. She'd thought the femme would simply keep it herself and just not wear it. But, no, Flareup was handing it over to her. Flareup was asking to be made accountable to Elita by doing this. Elita slowly reached out and took the ornament then put it safely away in realized that, as a femme commander, she'd not given Flareup nearly as much thought or attention as she should have. She resolved to change this.

Flareup watched her and then rubbed her hand over the bare armor where the ornament had been.

"Two days." Elita reiterated gently.

Flareup nodded.

"Is there anything… else?" Elita asked after a moment, making sure and starting on her new pattern of greater involvement.

Flareup smiled ever so slightly, touched by this care. Then she shook her head.

Elita glanced back through the doorway. "Shall we rejoin the others then? I think there is some great story behind Ironhide's… present state." Her optics twinkled a little.

Flareup smiled despite herself and nodded. They went back, Flareup walking a little behind and to the left of Elita.

"Settled?" Chromia asked. Elita nodded. "Good." Chromia said. Then she grinned. "Now hear Ironhide's tale of woe." She said, mercilessly amused.

Ironhide shook his head. "I was teasing Flareup because she yelped and jumped up when Agent Sora startled her. I really had no clue when to stop because I went so far as to enrage her. And then she pegged a soap cube at me. And another, and then I _thought_ I got her to stop, but then she nailed me with yours and it broke."

A little smirk played onto Elita's lips and her optics twinkled in amusement. "Third time's the charm, I hear." She said. "Go, femme-bots." she nudged Flareup in the shoulder with her own shoulder. She and Chromia did this with each other often, but she doubted she'd ever done it to Flareup. Flareup looked pleased, very pleased with this closer treatment.

"Yeah, well now my paint is ruined." He frowned down at himself again. "Question, if I may; how does Prime keep from getting his paint messed up when he washes with you?"

Amy's mouth flopped open. What audacity Ironhide had!

"Simple." Elita said with a smile, "We use a different soap. This one that messed up your paint is a finishing soap, not really a cleaning soap. We use the cleaning soap."

"Ah…!" He had his doubts about how necessary it was for a bot to have two different kinds of soap, but he wasn't going to debate it. After all, he was in the femmes' territory and quite outnumbered. "Okay."

Elita chuckled, amused by him. "Now that your curiosity is satisfied, why don't you go on and wash with your own soap so you don't smell like me."

"Oh… my curiosity is far from satisfied," Ironhide said with a grin and a wink, "But I'll go anyway."

"See you later, MySpark." Chromia told.

"Definitely." Ironhide said then kissed her for four whole seconds before leaving.

"Wow…" Amy murmured as she watched him leave.

"You should run along, too." Flareup told Amy, eager to have the human out of their private area.

Auri scowled at Flareup, fed up. "That was very rude and not subtle!"

"She shouldn't even be in here in the first place!" Flareup snapped back with arrogance.

"Femme-lings." Chromia's tone was one of surprise and disapproval. "That is enough. Don't even get started."

"We started it before you even got in here." Flareup retorted, lacking a respectful tone towards her mentor and elder.

Chromia's optics widened with surprised then narrowed with displeasure. "I don't care when it started. It stops now." She said, and her tone implied that she would not tolerate any further disrespect.

"Yes, ma'am." Auri said softly.

Flareup looked contrary.

"Flareup?" Chromia prompted.

Flareup looked nasty. She wanted to say, '_I slaggin' want a nice hot shower, and I sure as pit am not gonna get one with a glitchin' bi-org in the place.'_ But she knew Chromia would make her regret it, and poor little Auri would be horrified, and the human would be insulted, and Elita would… Elita wouldn't have to do anything because Chromia would do more than enough. Chromia was good and thorough in whatever she did.

"Yes, Chromia." She said reluctantly. "I just want a nice long shower, that's all."

"You can have one." Chromia said more gently. "Amy wishes to stay and hear our conversations, but she will keep her back to us."

Flareup supposed she should be grateful, but she for sure didn't feel like it.

"Besides," Chromia said with a little smirk, "She walked in on me stripped mostly down in Ironhide's arms; showers won't even compare."

"SHE- WHAT?" Flareup shrieked, "AH! What has been going ON around here? Please tell me Ironhide wasn't stripped down, too!"

Chromia shook her head. "He was all armored. Calm down. We'll tell you everything while we wash."

"Crazy!" Flareup said as she went to get her own soap.

Auri gently lifted Amy onto a bench so that her feet and shoes wouldn't get wet when the femmes turned on the water. Amy sat with her back to the femmes, and Auri sat beside her, but facing the femmes.

"We were expecting Auri to away for several hours." Chromia told Flareup, "So we decided to enjoy our differences. Well, Miss Sora came a day early, and Auri's data-pad had a failure, so Auri came right back to our quarters, and there we were."

"Awesome." Flareup said drily. "At least she was a female, I guess."

"Yep." Chromia agreed, splashing in the water.

Amy looked sheepishly up at Auri. Auri reached over and rubbed the human's back gently to let her know that it was alright. Then she thought of something.

"Random question." Auri said hesitantly to the femmes.

"For who?" Flareup asked as Chromia tossed her a cube of soap.

"Um, for whoever knows the answer." Auri said. "Why is it that Ironhide always still has all his armor on even when Chromia is down to very little?"

"Whoa!" Flareup said then chuckled, slightly embarrassed. "I do not know that answer to that one."

"It's got a logical answer." Chromia said. "The mech is the stronger one, the defender. He needs to be armored in case of an attack on him and his spark-mate. If there was a problem, he could defend while she covered up, and then they could vanquish the enemy together. If both were without armor, they'd both be vulnerable and quite at risk."

"Ah." Said Auri, satisfied. That made sense.

"Hm!" Flareup said, "Interesting. But, is that necessary when you're safe and sound in your quarters?"

"Eh, old habits are well ingrained, and we like it." Chromia said. "Besides, he does eventually take it off. Or, rather, lets me."

"Oh, whoa-! TMI, Chromia! Too much information!" Flareup protested.

"Oh, come now. You'll need to know some of this stuff when you get your own mech." Chromia chided playfully.

"I'll ask when I get one! IF."

"If-!" Auri was taken aback. "Don't you want one?"

"Too many of the ones I meet are… well… they don't meet my standards."

"They don't measure up to Ironhide, Prime, and Prowl combined?" Chromia teased.

Flareup chuckled. "I'm not _that_ hard on them."

"Okay."

"Oh!" Flareup remembered something and smiled. "I brought something for you, Auri." She said, taking a metal box from subspace.

Auri looked at it eagerly, and Flareup brought it over and gave it to her.

"Thank-you!" Auri said happily as she opened it. "Oooooweee!" She squealed with delight when she actually saw the contents. She dropped the box as she took out a clear cube filled with all sorts of different metallic candies. "Candies!" She squealed and grinned up a Flareup. "Candies!"

"I think you like candies." Amy said with a chuckle as Auri kicked her feet like an excited baby.

"I LOVES candies!" Auri said with glee as she tried to figure out how to open the cube and gain access to its contents. "Ngh! Flareup?"

Flareup smiled and showed her how to open it.

"Oh…! Thank-you." Auri put her fingers in the candy, eagerly looking through the treats to see which kinds were among them and which ones she wanted first.

"Auri…" Chromia said, watching her.

"Yes?" Auri was still eagerly sorting the sweets.

"What did you have for breakfast?" She knew, Ironhide had told her about it, but she needed to remind Auri.

Auri's face fell. "A whole lot of sweet-Energon with my regular Energon." She said. Flareup grimaced, and a sympathetic look crossed Elita's face.

"So, should you being eating candy?" Chromia asked gently.

Auri mulled this over in her young processor. Then she peeked up at Chromia hopefully. "Just one piece?" she asked.

Chromia debated within herself.

"Pleeeease…?" Auri asked coaxingly. "Just one little one?"

"Oh…" Chromia relented. "Just one little one."

Auri grinned rewardingly over at her femme-guardian and stuck her chosen candy in her mouth. "Mmmm…! It's so very, very yummmmy-good."

"Sorry you're disappointed." Flareup said with a chuckle. "I'll try harder next time."

Auri giggled at her and savored her candy. "Woul' you 'ike a pie'e?"

Flareup grinned. "No, thank-you. I had more than enough at the place where I got those."

"O'ay." Auri said contentedly. She looked over at Chromia, intending to ask her something. Chromia gave her a firm look and pursed her lips meaningfully for a moment. Auri repositioned the candy in her mouth so that she could speak more clearly. "Would you like one, Chromia? Elita?"

"Yes, thank-you." Elita said, smiling as she remembered how Auri had lacked many manners when she'd first arrived. She came over and took a piece. Her optics widened when she tasted it. "Flareup! Where did you find such candy?" she asked in amazement.

Chromia was intrigued and came over for a piece.

Flareup looked well-pleased with herself and highly entertained. "On an obscure little moon orbiting an even more obscure little planet." She said. "There was a tiny refugee camp there, and there was an artisan candy-maker living there."

"And you couldn't talk him into relocating?" Chromia asked with candy in her mouth.

"Uhmmm. Well, about that. He was just a little too old to travel without upsetting some severe health issues. That, and he fell madly in love with me, and I just wasn't interested a mech who was five times older than Ironhide."

Chromia whooped with laughter, and Elita chuckled. Auri giggled.

"Yep." Flareup said, grinning at her comrades. They laughed harder. Even Amy had to laugh. "Decrepit old rattletrap of a mech," Flareup said when she could be heard, "I came into his Shoppe looking for some Energon, and it was love-at-first-sight. For him. Oh, I got Energon, and candy, and was invited over for dinner. I met the children, and the grandchildren, and the great-grand-children, and saw pictures of the great-great-grand-children, who were well older than me, and heard all about what reckless young hellions they were." She paused because Auri fell off the bench and Chromia was laughing too hard to help her up. She grinned. Even reserved Elita was laughing.

Flareup made sure Auri wasn't bruised and made her sit on the floor then went on. "The family was rather embarrassed and apologized, but I was well-entertained and told them that it was alright. I was practically the princess of Cybertron while I stayed there. Hence the large amounts of candy since princesses love candy, apparently." Flareup made a face. "I tried to explain that I didn't like candy that much, but he didn't believe me!"

"Mechs live in denial." Chromia managed to stop laughing long enough to gasp out a few words.

Flareup grinned. "Felt rather bad having to 'leave him.' But he didn't seem to mind. Just said, 'Oh, yes, but you'll be back.'"

"Oh, dear." Auri said sympathetically.

"Oh, no, Auri! Don't feel bad. He was flirting with another femme when I went in to say good-bye. I told I was going, and he said, 'Well, bye-bye, sweet-spark,' and winked at me."

"Creeper!" Auri squeaked, changing her mind.

Flareup chuckled. "You bet."

"Wow…" Chromia said, still grinning as she headed back over to the shower.

Flareup smiled, quite pleased with her comrades' reception of her misadventures. She usually had a fairly good time away, but it was always more fun to come back and tell about gave the human's back a suspicious glance then removed her leg armor. Setting the armor to soak, she took a cloth and sat and began washing her legs. The foaming soap felt good and it was nice to be free of particles of space debris.

Her back ached a little when she leaned too far forward, and she knew she was going to need some help when it came time to wash her back. She glanced over at Chromia and Elita and smiled, knowing she would be in good hands.

* * *

Don't forget to check out the song-fic prequel! ;)

http :/ www. fanfiction .net/s/7986955/1/Closing_Time

(And, sorry, it's just a one-shot, so I probably won't be adding anything else to it).


	65. Chapter 65, Ow, Oh, UhOh, and Ouch!

Hey! Congratulations to **Lunar Radioactive** for being the 400th reviewer on this fic! :D

Well, I don't know how I ended up with such an angsty chapter… But I got in a little fluff at the end, so it should be alright. :)

...also ended up with a random chapter title somehow, too... ;)

* * *

Chapter 65

**Ow, Oh, Uh-Oh, and Ouch!**

Flareup finished cleaning her arms and legs, and every part of herself that didn't relate to her back. She cleaned her armoring and replaced it. Then she turned to ask Chromia for help and found the femme watching her expectantly.

"What?" Flareup asked.

"Just wondering what you were going to do next." Chromia replied.

Flareup smiled. "I was going to ask you for a little help." She said cockily. "I was planning it all along; I just wanted to get everything else out of the way and done first."

"Very well then." Chromia said, pleased that Flareup was wanting her help. Flareup was usually the last femme to ask for help, next to Chromia. "Get your plating over here, and I'll help you with your mangled dorsal armor."

Flareup went over to Chromia and grimaced. "Be gentle, will you?" She asked.

"Will do." Chromia said, speaking lightly to hide her feelings. It always hurt her to see her Flareup wounded.

Flareup stood with her back to Chromia and braced herself.

"What did you get yourself into, femme?" Chromia asked.

"Short story," Flareup said, "-Which ain't gonna cut it for Prowl, is I was on the wrong planet at the wrong time, and there were some animal-things on it rather like Insecticons. Lovely claws, and lovely mouths, too. They thought I was dessert. There were –ow- too many to kill, so I had to run- EEYOWWW! I SAID GEnTLE!" She screeched, starting to double over in pain.

"Still-! Be still!" Chromia warned quickly, gently grabbing her by the shoulders to keep her up. The touch made her scream, and Elita darted over and took her hands.

"You've got to stand still," Elita told Flareup gently, moving close to wall her in. "Flareup, can you deactivate your pain-receptors?"

Flareup shook her head. "I kept them off for so long that they glitched. They won't alert at the usual pain, but they will at new pain. And they won't ignore new painnnn…"

"It's alright, it's alright." Elita told her gently. "'Mia, should we call Ratchet?"

"No…" Flareup whimpered. Amy saw Auri's optics fill with tears.

Chromia hesitated.

"There's not much he could do here since I glitched my pain inhibiting system." Flareup moaned.

Chromia looked grim. "I'm afraid that's fairly true. He'd need a machine to stop the pain."

"Don't call him… please don't…"Flareup begged miserably.

Elita nodded reluctantly. "Alright." She said. "Chromia will get this over with as quickly and gently as possible." She told Flareup, meeting Chromia's optics.

Chromia nodded. Then she paused. "Auri, you and Amy go on out. You can come back in afterwards if you wish."

Auri slipped off the bench quickly and scooped Amy up like she would a sparkling and left, carrying the unfortunate human out of the showers like doll and closing the entryway door behind them.

Amy winced. Then she was finally set on her feet so fast that it made her dizzy. She put a hand against the wall to steady herself and then looked up at Auri, intending to nicely ask to not be handled like that.

Auri had her face hidden in her hands and was crying.

"Auri…?" Amy asked, concerned about the little bot to the extent that she forgot to be bothered with the handling.

"I don't want her to be hurt…!" Auri wailed softly.

Amy opened her mouth, hoping to find the right words to use to comfort the little robot that towered over her. She didn't know what to say, though.

A horrible scream came from the other room. Auri ran to a corner and crumpled into it, curling up. Amy bit her lip, distressed.

Ironhide came thundering out of the other side of the showers, his paint partially refinished, with his battle-mask up and his optics snapping. An even bigger mech was close behind him, awesome in sight and strong in bearing. '_Optimus Prime…?_' Amy wondered.

Ironhide saw Auri and stopped. He turned quickly to her and crouched down by her. "What's going on, MyAuri?" he asked gently but urgently. The other mech's optics landed on Amy for a moment.

"Flareup's hurrrrted." Auri cried, "Her m-mangleded up armorrrr…"

Ironhide groaned in pain and rose, clicking curtly to the other mech before hurriedly going into the femmes' side.

The other mech crouched down by Auri, dropping to one knee as he gently put his hand on her shoulder. "Would a hug help matters, little Aurion?" he asked and Amy almost fainted at the sound of his voice.

Auri whimpered the affirmative and crawled into his arms. He sat and cradled her, making soft, comforting noises, unintelligible to the Amy but meaningful to the poor little femme. They seemed to work, for Auri calmed down and chirred softly as she relaxed in his arms. Amy saw pain and sadness in his optics for a moment as he looked down at the little bot in his arms. Then it was hidden, and he looked over at her.

"You are Agent Amy Sora, are you not?" he asked. Velvety. That was the word for his voice. Deep velvety.

Amy nodded, awestruck. Then she winced as another scream came from the other side of the door. Another agonizing howl cut through the air and faded away to be replaced a low growl of pain. Auri whimpered, and the Prime turned his attention back to her, clicking gently to her and rubbing her back until she seemed to be almost comatose. Then he turned his attention back to Amy as he cradled the little femme.

"I am Optimus Prime, leader of the Autobots." He said.

"It is an honor to meet you." Amy said softly, amazed that she was actually speaking to the leader of an alien faction.

"Do Autobots not have pain-killers?" Amy asked as her heart twisted in pain for Flareup despite Flareup's hostility towards her.

"We do." The Prime said, sounding regretful, "But they do not always work for everything. Earth lacks many of the resources our planet had… cutting back on the efficiency of many of the things we make."

"Oh…" Amy said softly.

"We will do everything in our power to make sure Flareup does not suffer unnecessar-…." He stopped as Elita came out. He looked to her, seeming to question her.

"The worst is over." She said softly with a sigh. Optimus rose, holding Auri in one arm, and put his other arm around his femme to comfort her.

"She is an indomitable and resilient one, My Elita. She will be alright." He told her gently.

"I know…" she leaned against his strong form, drained from the emotions that had torn through her. He strengthened her with his presence.

Auri suddenly woke up and looked surprised to be so high up. She wanted down; she wanted to go see Flareup. Prime, sensing her wants, gently set her down, and she hurried towards the showers. Amy didn't dare follow, and Auri went in alone.

Ironhide was sitting on the floor with Flareup lying over his lap. She was facing downwards, and his fingers were pressed firmly into the cording at the base of her neck. Her back was free from its armoring, and Chromia was gently washing it.

"Oh, Auri…" Flareup sighed when she realized that Auri was there. Auri sat down and took her hand. "I'm sorry, sparkling…" Flareup murmured, "I'll be okay."

"I don't want you to go on anymore off-planet scouts." Auri cried softly. "I love you."

Flareup winced at the emotion and at the guilt that stabbed through her. "I love you, too." She murmured after a moment. "No more off-planet scouts for a long, long time." She promised, "And if I do again, I'll take a team; no more solos."

Auri sniffled back her tears and curled up to hug Flareup's hand. "Okay."

Flareup needed to escape the emotion. Ironhide was taking the pain for her, but she still felt sore. "Where'd you leave the mouse?" she asked. "Human." She corrected before anyone could rebuke her.

"She's in the entryway, worrying." Auri answered.

"Oh." So, that didn't really work.

"She's pretty worried?" Chromia asked, sensing that Flareup needed Auri's attention to be redirected.

Auri nodded. "Very, pretty worried… all about Flareup suffering."

Chromia smiled. "Why don't you go tell her that we have it under control and Flareup can't feel much right now?" she suggested.

"How shall I explain it?" she asked, shooting a concerned look at Ironhide.

"We're just high-tech, that's all." Ironhide said through clenched jaws. "Explain it simply."

Auri nodded and rose. She went back to the entryway. Optimus wasn't wanting to ignore Amy Sora, but Elita needed him more than the human did, so he was gently talking with his femme in Cybertronian. The human was discreetly watching, taking in their body language and listening to his tone of voice.

Amy turned when she heard Auri coming, giving her a questioning look of concern.

"It's okay." Auri said, sitting down by the human. "They have it under control and Flareup can't feel much right now."

"Oh, that's good." Amy said with relief. "Did they find something that worked for the pain?"

Auri nodded slowly. "We're very high-tech…" she said. "Uhm… I'm not sure how to explain how… what they did."

"It is complicated, yet simple." Optimus Prime said, taking over when he saw that Auri was too unsure to speak. All attention was turned to him. "Because of their close familial bond, Ironhide was able to access Flareup's sensory-cortex and isolate the pain receptors."

"Was he able to turn them off?" Amy asked.

Prime shook his head. "The pain-signals could not be overridden, but they could be rerouted. He linked them into his own system. He feels all her pain; and she feels none."

"Ohhh…" Amy said softly, touched by Ironhide's kindness and willingness to suffer for the femme.

"As metallic beings, we are often thought to be cold-hearted," Prime said quietly. "I deeply regret that any of mine have to suffer, but as you see that Ironhide would suffer for Flareup, I hope that you will learn differently, that you will see that we are capable of great compassion."

Amy nodded thoughtfully. "I see that." She said, looking up at the Prime with a respectful smile. She paused. "There isn't a lot of understanding between humans and Cybertronians, is there?" she asked.

Prime considered this a moment then crouched down so he wouldn't be towering over her as he spoke. "There is a great deal of understanding between our combat allies and ourselves." He said, "But you are right in regards to all other humans. They understand us very little, and we do not understand them as well as we should."

"I hope we will be able to overcome that." Amy said.

"As do I." Prime said, rising. "I must go now."

"Don't be late," Elita reminded gently as she brushed her fingers against the palm of his hand.

He clicked to her in Cybertronian, making Auri smile, and then he went on his way.

"It would be best to go on and show Agent Sora something else." Elita told Auri. "Flareup will get used to her later, but right now it not a good time."

Auri nodded. "Yes, Commander." She said.

Elita turned to go back into the showers. "Farewell." She said to Amy, "May you enjoy your observations."

"Thank-you." Amy said, smiling.

"Auri," Elita said, "_click-click-oi-twitter-wit-clirrr-if-nick-nick-grrif._"

"Ooooh!" Auri looked surprised then a little embarrassed. "Yes, Commander." She replied, nodding. Then Elita left. Auri motioned for Amy to come along, and they went outdoors.

"It everything alright?" Amy asked, gesturing back to where they'd been with Elita.

Auri nodded then looked a little abashed. "She just said that you weren't a Cybertronian sparkling and I wasn't to pick you up or carry you like one."

"Oh, dear! It's rather my fault, though. I should have said something."

Auri looked down at her reflectively. "Maybe so." She said, "Well, I will try to not do that again."

"Thank-you." Amy said, smiling, "And if you slip up, I'll mention it subtly."

"Okay! It's a deal." Auri said, transforming. "Now… let's see…"

Amy got in the passenger side door.

"I could take you to the pub." Auri said with sudden delight. "There would be at least a few bots there for you to meet."

Amy liked the sound of this, so Auri took drove off to the pub.

"Repairs said that they picked up your car and will get to it as soon as they've fixed Lennox's motorcycle." Auri reported on the way.

"Excellent." Amy said, smiling at the unnecessary details about Lennox.

The Bots' pub bore more resemblance to an earth pub than the Bots' showers had resembled earth showers. When Amy walked in with Auri, she couldn't help but think about the story _Gulliver's Travels_, for in one part of the story, the main character found himself in a land where he was absolutely tiny and the inhabitants were huge.

"Well, Auri!" someone behind the cliff of a counter greeted. "Hello!"

"Hello, Mirage!" Auri greeted. "I brought somebody to meet you."

"Oh? Pretend friend?" Mirage asked teasing as he saw no one.

"Human!"

Mirage peered over the counter and saw Amy then. He smiled. "Ah, hello." He said.

"Hello,"

Auri held her hands down for Amy to climb onto and politely set her up on the counter once she had climbed on.

Auri introduced the two and sat on a stool at the counter, and they talked. Amy found Mirage to be fairly refined in manner, slightly self-satisfied, but polite overall. He was nice, but she could tell he was guarding himself from her. She didn't feel snubbed, as she had by the twins, though, so she was content enough.

After a little while, a blue door-winged bot came in.

"Hi, Smokescreen!" Auri greeted him.

"Hi, little femme. How's it –Whoa!" He started when he saw the human. "Oh, excuse me." He said to Amy. "Pardon my rudeness, please. You caught me by surprise here."

"It's alright." Amy said graciously, nodding her head. "I think I'm going to get used to it."

Smokescreen took a stool next to Auri, near Amy. "We don't generally serve people here, so it's always a surprise when they show up. Of course, we give them a start when we show up at their restaurants, so fair is fair."

Amy chuckled.

"Mirage… how about a mid-grade, coppery with a slight negative charge?"

"Really? That's all?" Mirage said, sounding slightly scornful at the request.

Smokescreen smiled. Mirage left.

"He's mad because I beat him at _click-wrrrick_ last week." Smokescreen explained.

"I'm mad because you _cheated_ at _click-wrrrick_ last week." Mirage called over his shoulder.

"My word as an Autobot, I did not cheat." Smokescreen said grimly.

Mirage reconsidered things. "How did you win so easily then?" he asked curiously, putting the requested cube down before Smokescreen.

"Ironhide and Chromia weren't trying very hard to win, and Prowl was preoccupied. You were trying, but your focus was on beating Wheeljack because he'd said something to about thrashing you soundly and I had been on a losing streak for so many games before. That is how."

"Oh."

"Okay?"

"Alright. I apologize for accusing you as I did." Mirage said.

"Accepted." Smokescreen said, smiling.

"See, aren't we amicable?" Mirage said Amy.

Amy chuckled. "Very." She said.

Smokescreen let her talk with him while he drank his Energon. Again, she felt like the bot was holding back. Still, despite this barrier, she found what he had to say quite interesting. She made quite a few little notes while they talked, notes which she would fill out later. Presently Smokescreen had to be going, and he told her bye.

"Have fun." He said. Then he clicked to Auri. Auri clicked and chirped back.

Amy smiled up at Auri once the mech had gone. "He was cool." She said.

Auri nodded. "He is." She paused. "You need lunch now, correct?"

"Correct." Amy said. "And I need to do some writing for a couple hours."

"Okay." Auri said. "I'll take you to get your car, and then you can take care of your lunch and your writing. Agreeable?"

"Very agreeable!" Amy answered. Lunch sounded very good, and while she enjoyed being around Auri, she would be more comfortable riding in something that wasn't sentient.

The trip to the car shop was lively and enjoyable, for Auri made sure to comment on everything that they went past. Once they pulled up to the car shop, Amy chuckled. It was the most unusual-looking car shop she'd ever seen. For one, it was build so that many, many vehicles could be serviced at once, and it also been built so that Transformers could come in. Amy got out and closed the door.

"Greetings!" Auri called after standing up in bipedal mode.

"Hey, Auri." A man came out from behind a wall of supplies. "Ah." He said, seeing Amy. "You've come for the car?"

"Yes, if it's ready." Auri said hopefully.

"Yeah, it's ready." He said, skepticism sounding in his voice.

"Is it working alright?" Amy asked.

"Yes, ma'am." He said. "I'll bring it out." He left.

'_He's acting different._' Auri thought. '_Acting like he's hiding something_.'

"Wait here." Auri told Amy. Then she ducked into the garaged and carefully made her way over to where the man was getting Amy's car. "Hey," she whispered. "What is going on?"

The man sighed. "Auri, there wasn't a thing wrong with this car. I gave it a complete diagnostic and checked the 'problems' and there weren't any."

"Oh…?"

He nodded reluctantly.

Auri frowned, confused. "Are you sure?"

"I'm sure, Little Bot."

Auri looked down at the ground, frowning. This meant Amy Sora had been lying about the problems to cover up for just being late. Maybe she wouldn't do it again, especially since she'd seen how the Bots reacted to lying. "Okay. Thanks for telling me." She said softly. "Just keep it quiet."

"Alright." He said. "And I am sorry."

"It's okay." Auri said then she went back to Amy.

"Is it running?" Amy asked.

Auri nodded and motioned to the car as the man drove it up.

"Thank-you." Amy told him.

"No problem." The man said. He saluted to Auri and then went back into the shop.

"See you later." Auri said.

"See you later." Amy said warmly. She'd enjoyed her morning with the Bots. The car started with no problem, and she drove off. It seemed to be fixed.

OoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoO

It was late in the day, and Prowl was uncomfortable. Highly uncomfortable. He felt a little too hot, but the virus was making his shoulder much too hot, and the heat was starting to spread.

He squirmed a little. He didn't want Ratchet to come give him shots, but he knew the medic was going to come in any minute with a needle. Needle…

Needle…

Long, sharp, painful…

Needle…

Needle…

It would hurt…

Cons liked using needles…

Multiple needles…

ShArP NeEdLeS…

Stab, stab, stab…

Pain… increase…

"No…" Prowl protested. "No…! No, Ratchet…"

Ratchet came in, frowning. "What's going, Prowl?"

Prowl blinked at the medic. "I feel worse." He said.

"What were you saying 'no' about?" Ratchet asked, concerned.

Prowl looked perplexed. He didn't recall saying anything. "I must have been in half-recharge…" He decided.

"Do you remember…?" he trailed off as Prowl shook his head. "Okay. Well, your system isn't doing too well with this virus so I'm going to have to give you-"

"Oh, no! Don't!" Prowl rolled over and sat up. "Don't, please…"

Ratchet pressed his palm to his forehead. "I know you don't like shots, Prowl, but-"

"I do not like them at all…" Prowl protested desperately, starting to feel some mild panic.

::Jolt, First Aid, I'm going to need help. Prowl isn't going to just lie here and let me give him his shot.::

::Coming.:: Jolt replied.

::Coming.:: First Aid replied, ::Be careful, Jolt. Last time I helped with giving Prowl shots, he kicked me pretty badly, and I was sore for days.::

::Thanks for scaring him off like that.:: -Ratchet

::Hey, I'm game.:: -Jolt

"Just take it easy, Prowl." Ratchet said. "The shot will help your system combat the virus, and then you won't get so sick."

"Ratchet," Prowl said, watching Ratchet. "I hate needles…"

"I know you do."

Prowl gusted cool air through his system. He was getting hot. "Ratchet, I cannot… do… this…"

"It's alright."

"NO! It's not!" Prowl was definitely getting panicky.

"Can you lie down?"

Prowl focused. He was an officer. He was a Second-in-Command. High-rank. Good example. He had power and control. He had self-control. He could do this. He made himself lie down.

_Attack! _ His system screamed at him. He started to jump back up, but First Aid and Jolt pinned him down.

Second-in-Commands don't kick others- he wouldn't…

NEEDLES! DECEPTICONS!

"GNH!" Jolt grunted as Prowl kicked. "Ow!"

Prowl thrashed, trying to free himself of the Decepticons. First Aid was trying to cuff his hands behind his head. Jolt was getting kicked.

"Ouch! OW, -RATCHET!"

Ratchet put his left hand down on Prowl's door-wing connectors in the center of his back and pressed down. It hurt when Prowl moved. Logical response: stop moving. Prowl lay still.

"Just be still, Prowl." Ratchet told him gently. "It will be over in just a few minutes."

"Ohhh… Ratchet…" Prowl moaned miserably.

First Aid kept a hand on Prowl's cuffs and carefully put his hand in place of Ratchet's on Prowl's wing connectors, keeping firm pressure on them, so that Ratchet had both hands free.

::He's going to kick some more.:: Ratchet warned Jolt. Jolt shifted his position, getting a better one and a stronger hold, then nodded to Ratchet.

Ratchet put a firm hand on the unfortunate Bot's upper leg and then pressed the needle in just above.

"OW!" Prowl roared.

"GNH-!" Jolt grimaced. He was going to need some touchup work when this was over.

Ratchet finished the shot and then readied the second one.

"TWO?" Prowl yelled when he felt the second needle. "NO-OH! OWWWW! **OW!**" His howls drowned out Jolt's yelp of pain.

"There's a third one." Ratchet told him. "I'm sorry…"

Prowl whimpered softly. The third injection seemed the worst, but he didn't make a move.

"There." Ratchet told him gently. "All done." First Aid released him and went to steady Jolt as his blue comrade stumbled away. "I'm sorry it hurt so." Ratchet said as he wiped down the injector.

"It hardly hurt that much." Prowl said.

Ratchet looked at him sharply.

"It was the trauma." Prowl explained quietly.

Ratchet put his work down and came over, a more serious look on his face. "The trauma, Prowl?" he asked softly as he sat down beside Prowl's berth, "I thought we had gotten you past that."

"We had at one point a long time ago." Prowl said. "But, I guess we have returned to 'square one' as the humans put it."

Ratchet studied tired face before him. Prowl had developed a borderline-severe phobia of needles at some point along the line. It had taken Ratchet a long time, but he'd worked with Prowl using systematic desensitization to help him overcome his fear. They'd started out with just a picture of needle. Prowl had shuddered at first, but then he hadn't minded it. Then they moved on to watching a video of someone handling a needle. That had taken him a while longer to get used to. After several different progressive steps, he'd walked Prowl into a room with a needle lying on a counter. Prowl had bolted, and they'd had to go back to pictures. The day finally came when Prowl walked into the room with the needle and remained calm. That had been a good day. Then they'd worked on getting him closer and closer until Ratchet could touch him with a needle without him panicking.

"I'm sorry." Ratchet said soberly. "If I'd known you were kicking and yelling because you were panicked, I would have searched to find any other possible way to give you the antiviral and not put you through that." He said. "I assumed you were pitching a fit like… certain other mechs. I am really, really sorry."

"It's alright." Prowl said, nodding his head against his pillow.

"I guess we'll need to work on desensitizing you again." Ratchet said reluctantly.

Prowl nodded again, looking beaten.

"We'll go slowly." Ratchet promised, "It will be alright."

"Okay…" Prowl agreed. Ratchet almost smiled; he could see that Prowl was getting drowsy and fighting it.

Prowl curled up in fetal position. "I'm sorry I yelled at you." He murmured. "And sorry I kicked your assistant."

Ratchet patted his arm. "It's alright. I know you didn't mean it."

"Why is my life so complicated?"

Ratchet smiled. "All lives are complicated, Prowl."

"Even Auri's?"

"Even Auri's." Ratchet said, amused by the out-of-the-blue mention of Auri.

Prowl sighed in distress and shifted positions, settling down to recharge. Ratchet moved away to organize some things.

"Ratchet…?"

Ratchet turned back. "Yes, Prowl?"

"Thank-you for putting up with me and with all the other bots. You are really are the best medic we could ask for."

Ratchet smiled, surprised but touched by this unexpected gratitude and praise. "Well, thank-you." He said. "I do my best."

Prowl nodded as his optics shuttered.

Ratchet worked in peace and quiet for a while, staying in the room so he could monitor Prowl's condition.

There was so much he had done to help his fellows, but there was so much that he'd not been able to do. He had countless regrets, some more painful than others. He supposed time would ease the pain of some, and it had for many, but some still haunted him. The bots he'd come so close to saving but had failed in the last moments… he couldn't get them out of his processors.

He sighed and went to check on Flareup. Ironhide had carried her in that morning with her back torn up by some clawed creature from some alien planet, and she'd been trying not to cry. Ratchet had gotten her onto a berth immediately and ran wires into her sensory system and stopped the pain. Then he'd started repair work. Her body had healed itself part of the way, but she'd been moving around too much for it to heal properly. He'd had to drug her and sedate her and basically redo the old repairs before getting to the new repairs.

She was going to be a very sore femme for a while, but Ratchet was pretty certain she would be almost as good as new if she obeyed him and got the rest that she needed.

"Hi…" She said when he appeared in the doorway. She sounded half awake and looked queasy.

"Hello." Ratchet greeted her.

She grimaced lopsidedly. "Did yah drug me? 'Cause… I feel … uh, I mean I just woke up, but I think-" She broke off, and Ratchet sighed as she puked on the floor. She sighed. "Sorry." She said.

"No," Ratchet said, handing her a cleaning cloth, "I'm sorry. After living on earth this many years I should have figured out how to synthesize that drug so it wouldn't make my patients regurgitate it."

"Maybe some of the compounds are off?"

"Maybe." Ratchet said, remotely activating a little cleaner drone through his data-pad to remove the mess. "Or maybe there's an error in the chemical bonds. I've tried hundreds of different things. This one _is_ the best one so far."

"Mm. Oh, yeah," she realized. "It is better than last time. Last time I puked _and_ had a killer helm-ache and a tank-ache. This time I just puked." She made a face. "Oh, that's always a topic for polite conversation."

Ratchet smiled. "About anything is an open topic in Med-Bay."

"But not everything is a nice topic for a femme to rattle on about."

"Since when are you concerned about such things?" Ratchet teased lightly. It was uncharacteristic of her, though.

Flareup lowered her optics. She didn't want to share with Ratchet what had gone on between her and Elita and how it had made her stop and think about all her other words. She could just tell him… no, she could not just tell him anything.

"Flareup, I apologize." Ratchet said, seeing her expression, "I just teasing you. I didn't mean for you to take it seriously."

She smiled at him. "It's alright." She told him. "I've just realized lately that I'm too careless with my words." She explained with a sheepish laugh.

"You're maturing…?" he faked disbelief.

She grinned. "Yeah! I'm maturing! I'm gonna be old and grim! Like youuu!" she widened her optics with mock horror.

"Hmph." Ratchet said. But he smiled despite it.

"And…" she paused as a wave of drowsiness washed over her. "And… your drugs have a new side-effect, Ratché. Derrrrrrowsiness."

"That's the cycling sedative." Ratchet said drily. "It works for a while, stops, and then starts working again."

"Oh… well… uh… it's… nighty… nigh…" she nodded off.

Ratchet shook his head with a half-smile. What a character she was. He quietly checked the continuous scan on her system then went back to his work area where Prowl was.

He checked Prowl's condition and found it stable and improving. He went and sat down in a chair and worked on putting a repaired tool back together. It was nice work, and he listened to the muted intermittent talk of his assistants in the other room as he did it. The medical machines made a soft hum in the background, and Prowl's door-wing made a quite _scuff_ noise every now and then against the berth. It was nice and peaceful. A slight smile touched Ratchet's face as he worked. He appreciated these lulls.


	66. Chapter 66, Phobia and Friends

Finally, an update! I had to rewrite FOUR times before I got the ending right! *sigh* Finally got it now. Plus I had Mother's Day shopping and graduation planning, and general life onto of the writer's block. HOPEFULLY this will go more smoothly now! :)

And I just wanted to say a quick :Hi!" and "Thank-you!" to the bunch of new readers, reviewers, story alert people and favers that had added this story during it's brief lull in posting!

Okay, Enjoy!

* * *

Chapter 66

**Phobia and Friends**

Ratchet enjoyed the peace and quiet for a while. Then Prowl stirred.

"Mmmmm…" Prowl groaned. "Ratchet… why did you have to do that to me?"

Ratchet turned to see if Prowl was awake or muttering in half-charge. He was awake, and a grimace was on his face.

"I had to do that to you because the virus was working too fast for your system to combat." Ratchet said gently but gave him a straight answer.

"I meant… why… why _that_ location."

Ratchet cocked an optic-ridge. "Are you asking to complain, or do you really want the answer? The answer is long and complicated."

Prowl thought about this before giving a reply. "I would like to know some time because there should be a good explanation for _such_ discomfort," he said, "But, I do not wish to know right now. I am simply complaining at present."

"Okay." Ratchet said, smiling. Prowl had no further comments or complaints, and Ratchet went back to work while Prowl lay there still curled up.

Presently they heard the Med-Bay door open and the sound of someone tripping lightly in.

Prowl quickly changed positions so that he was lying flat on his front, not curled up like a sparkling.

"Hi, First Aid!" Auri's voice greeted, "Hi, Jol –Jolt! What happened to you, Jolt?"

"Oh, just injured in the line of duty." He joked. "I'll be fine, though."

"Oh, dear."

"It's mostly just cosmetic damage and some bruising. Nothing's broken."

"Alright…" Auri seemed unsure. Ratchet looked over and saw a guilty look on Prowl's face. The next moment it was gone, though, for Auri's footfalls came towards the doorway.

"Hello," she said, standing hesitantly in the doorway.

"Hello, Little One." Ratchet greeted her. Prowl considered pretending to be in recharge but deception was against his morals. "You may come in." Ratchet said.

Auri entered and hesitated. "Prowl?" she asked.

"Yes, Aurion?" He answered; he shifted positions and sat up. Then he winced.

She was distracted from her original mission. "Are you alright?"

"I am in a little more pain than before." He answered, glancing quickly at Ratchet. "A virus flared up, but Ratchet has taken steps to stop it."

"A virus…?" Auri asked, her optics widening.

Prowl nodded.

"A bad one?" she asked, looking worried. He shook his head.

"N-No. Not a bad one. Ratchet had given me some- some- some- something and it is stopping the virus.

Auri looked askance at the repeated words but didn't comment on it. "Well, I am glad that it is not too bad." She said, "I came to discuss some things about work, but I can talk about them later if need be…"

"Oh, no." Prowl said almost eagerly, "We can discuss things about work." He started to shift positions but stopped.

Auri glanced over at Ratchet to check with him, and he gave her a nod.

"Sit," Prowl said when she turned back to him. He motioned to his berth then carefully turned to sit cross-legged facing the foot of it. Auri hesitated then climbed up and sat cross-legged facing him.

Ratchet came over, causing them to stop and turn their attention to him curiously. "Can you two do something while you talk?" he asked.

"Perhaps." Prowl said, "What is it?"

"Can you start working on systematic desensitization?"

"System did what to whom?" Auri yelped, starting back and staring at Ratchet with shock.

"Systematic desensitization." Ratchet repeated slowly, holding back a smile. Auri looked it up. Ratchet returned his attention to Prowl. "Can you?" he asked.

Prowl wasn't sure how he felt about this. Logic came in and told him that it didn't matter how he felt about it. Fear argued that it did matter. Logic was better. He needed to be desensitized so he could receive treatment without it being a battle.

"Someone has a phobia?" Auri asked uncertainly. That was what she had gathered from the definition.

"Yes." Prowl said, nodding to Ratchet. "I can." He said, even though he didn't want to.

Auri looked from Ratchet to Prowl.

"Yes." Prowl said to Auri. "I have a phobia." He said, even though he didn't want to.

"Oh." She didn't know he could be afraid of anything.

"The humans call it 'belonephobia.'" He said. "It is an abnormal fear of n-n-n-needles and some other sh-sharp, pointed objects. I do not generally mind pointy things, but I have issues with n…" he shook his head. "N-no, Ratchet. I -I cannot."

Ratchet put a gentle hand on Prowl's shoulder. "Yes, you can." He said, "You did it before. You are already ahead in that perspective. And nothing bad will happen. It will be alright."

Prowl gusted cooler air through his overheating system and focused on calming himself. "You are right, Ratchet." He made himself say. "It will be alright. Neither you nor Auri would do me harm. This is just to help me."

"Correct." Ratchet said gently. He looked over at Auri to gauge her response to all this. Concern was etched on her young face, and it was clear that she felt pain for her commander. He suddenly felt bad about asking her to get involved; he suddenly feared that she was too young to handle this and that he'd made a serious mistake that could hurt her. "Auri?" he asked, "Is this alright with you? You can decline."

She shook her head. "It's alright," she said softly. Why would Ratchet think she might decline? Prowl was her friend, and she would do practically anything for her friends.

Ratchet glanced back at Prowl. "Alright." He said. He went over and picked up the injector. Prowl stiffened. "Prowl, I need you to let me know how close 'too close' is. Can you do that?"

Prowl nodded.

"And can you relax?"

Prowl moved his up-twitched wings down a little. He could relax. He'd done all this before with Ratchet last time they'd had to go through this. Focus… let go… you are not going to get hurt here… relax…

Prowl's wings lowered naturally.

Ratchet nodded to him that that was good. He came over slowly, holding the injector in a nonthreatening manner. He came closer than he'd hoped he would be able to. That was good. He was almost to Auri when Prowl shifted in preparation to flee.

"Waaaait," Ratchet told him gently. Prowl froze. "Can you sit back down how you were?"

Prowl nodded his head then shook it. He scooted backwards a little then sat back down.

"Alright." Ratchet said. "Auri, scoot back a little." Auri wiggled and scooted back then looked to Ratchet for more directions. Ratchet set the injector on the berth beside her. "Just leave it there." He told her. "And don't move from that place. Okay?"

"Okay." She said.

"Prowl,"

"No!"

"You can do your office stuff with Auri now."

"Oh…" he rather regretted that outburst now. Ratchet went off to work on something else.

Auri took out a data-pad. It was a little far to hand it to Prowl; she had to stretch. He moved just a little bit closer to that she'd not have to stretch so far.

"What is this one about?" he asked stiffly, trying not to think about the- the- the-…

"It is a general log of the things that Magnus and I have been working on in the office." Auri said, "See the second document…"

Prowl pulled up the second document.

"The second document is the list of things we have questions about."

Prowl nodded as he saw this. "Do you have a data-pad to write on?" he asked.

"Yes, Commander." She took out her extra. He systematically went through the list and talked through each problem with Auri until she found the answer. It was a slightly long list, so this took quite a bit of time.

Ratchet kept an optic on the two door-wingers, watching Prowl carefully. He saw Prowl gradually relax over time, and he saw him move closer to Auri so that they could talk without such an unusually wide space between them. A bot tended to prefer being quite close to the other bot he or she was speaking with, and Prowl was not much different.

Ratchet, watching Prowl's movements, began to think that Prowl might have forgotten about the injector. He seemed rather at ease for how close he was to it.

::Auri,:: Ratchet hailed her on intercom.

::Yes, sir?::

::Prowl seems to have forgotten about the injector. I would like for you to just casually brush your hand against it. Don't deliberately touch it or pick up, just brush it.::

::Alright.:: Auri agreed then Ratchet signed off.

It took Auri about a minute to figure out how to brush the injector without seeming to. Then she finally did.

She finished a note then shifted positions and brushed the injector with her hand as she moved.

Prowl snapped to attention, and his optics riveted to the injector. He'd forgotten that it had been there, forgotten what it did, what the Cons did with it, what they did to…

"Prowl…?" Auri asked.

Prowl dragged his optics from the torture device to Auri's innocent face.

"Y-you are trembling so hard your wings shaking….!" It frightened her that he was so terrified.

Prowl shook his head. "Ph-phobias…" he didn't know what he could say. Really, he was too troubled to talk. He looked away.

Auri put her data-pad down and moved to sit close to him, placing herself between him and the injector. She put gently a hand on his forearm. "It's alright." She told him softly. "Nothing bad is going to happen here." she promised, scooting over even closer and putting her arms around his, hugging it gently. It took a few minutes, but she waited, and his trembling finally decreased.

"You are one of the strongest Bots I know, Prowl." Auri told him softly. "And I know you can do this. It just takes time, I guess, but it will be alright." She encouraged.

Prowl forced himself to stop shaking, but he didn't trust himself to speak yet; fear was still running through his system. He had to calm down, and he knew it. He looked back to Auri and found her looking thoughtfully down at his fist. Such confidence she placed in him. He knew confidence in him shouldn't surprise him; after all, he was Prime's Second-in-Command, but Auri's complete confidence in him always left him amazed. She trusted him, counted on him, looked up to him, and willingly did anything he asked of her. He knew how he acted affected her. He knew if he was uptight and fretful, she would become anxious. He needed to relax for her sake. He focused on it.

She felt him relaxing and looked up again. Her optics met his with a little bit of a questioning look in them, wondering how he was doing. He made a bit of a smile touch his mouth to reassure her. She smiled shyly back.

"A little better?" she asked.

He nodded.

"You are really scared by needles, huh?" she commented gently.

He nodded again.

"Did something bad happen that made you scared of them?" she asked after a couple moments, cocking her head a little.

Prowl nodded reluctantly while reminding himself to stay relaxed.

"I guess you never want it to happen again, then."

Prowl shook his head. "Never." He said quietly.

"It could not happen again, though, could it?" she asked, "I mean, incidents don't usually repeat themselves exactly…?"

Prowl saw where she was going with this and lightened up a little. "Logic." He said, "From you, Auri?" he teased ever so slightly, and she smiled up at him a smile that almost warmed his spark.

"I thought a little might work." She said.

"Yes." He said, sobering again. "You are right. That incident can never happen again."

"So, you're safe here?"

"Relatively." He agreed, nodding. But he knew he would never feel safe.

He sighed. He was so tired and sore.

"Hug?" Auri asked.

Prowl knew he didn't want a hug, but he knew Auri probably needed one. He nodded. She shifted positions so that she was sitting beside him but facing the opposite direction. Then she leaned over and gently put her arms around him. Not wanting to seem rude, Prowl put his arms around her as well. She was warm and felt good. She wasn't soft in human terms, but to a Transformer, she was soft. …Soft and cuddly. …huggable. It felt nice to hold someone in his arms and feel her warmth radiating back to his sore body, physically feel her unconditional positive regard for him. … to feel close and cared for.

A tiny shard in his spark wanted to keep her forever, but logic clamped down on it and pushed it away, labeling it as dangerous. Decepticons always took away anyone and anything that he cared for very much. To have feelings for her would make her a target for the Cons. Being friends was risky enough. He hugged her a little tighter and then reluctantly let her go. She wasn't his snuggle-bot. She was very sweet, though.

Auri was surprised but pleased that Prowl had let himself be hugged for such a long time. She knew the healing power of touch, having felt it herself, but she knew Prowl always distanced himself from other Bots. That he would embrace it was progress.

"That was a good hug," she told him, keeping one of his hands imprisoned in both of hers. She smiled at him that sweet smile of hers.

Prowl wriggled his fingers, trying to get her to let go, but for some reason it only made her hold them tighter. He grunted in frustration, and it made her giggle at him. He gave up and sighed.

"You are a silly femme-ling, Aurion." He said, "Let go."

"You are captured and won't be let go." She told him playfully.

He started to feel annoyed, but, then, he realized that she was trying to play a game with him. Well, he was too old for games. That argument failed, for even Ironhide played games. He was too high-ranking to play games. That argument failed as well, for even Prime played games sometimes.

"What… if… I do not want to be a captive?" he asked. He needed help. He looked over towards the medic. Ratchet wasn't going to help him out of this; he knew that the second he saw the little smiling twinkle in the corner of his optic.

"Captives have no choice." Auri informed him.

"What is going to be done with me, then?" Prowl asked, resigning himself to playing. His battle system wasn't booting up and feeding him many options.

Auri hadn't thought of this. "Um…" She looked around speculatively. What could she do to Prowl that he wouldn't hate…?

"Um… You'll have to babysit." She decided suddenly.

"Babysit?" he raised an optic-ridge. "Babysit whom, Auri? You are the youngest bot on Base." His logic core was seeming more and more lethargic, but it did sort that one out.

"No, I'm not. Ever-Near is." She said, taking her doll from subspace with one hand while keeping a firm grip on Prowl with the other.

"Ah." Said Prowl, at a loss for what to do now.

She held out the doll for him to take.

"I cannot babysit with only one hand." He said after a pause.

She started to loosen her grip, then saw his trap, but it was too late. Prowl slipped his hand away quickly and jumped neatly off the berth, landing on his feet and darting over to the next berth.

"Bad Prowl." Auri told him, shaking her head at him.

"Clever Prowl." Prowl corrected.

Auri decided this wasn't so fun if Prowl wasn't going to play. "Nevermind." She said. "Come back, and I won't make you babysit or be a captive."

"That is generous of you." Prowl said, coming back. He got back on the berth and sat beside her. Then he grabbed her wrist as she shot her hand out to grab his. She squeaked in surprised and tried to grab his wrist with her free hand, but he was too quick for her and grabbed that wrist before she could grab his. "I smelled a trap." He said, holding her wrists imprisoned gently but firmly.

"Brat 'n' meanie!" She protested, shoving her foot against his leg.

He pushed his elbow against her arm a little in retaliation. She growled and butted her head against shoulder.

He started to push back but grunted in discomfort. "Ow." He frowned and let her go.

"Did that hurt?" she asked, worried now.

"That was my sore shoulder." Prowl said, putting a hand on it. "I am not as tough as I look at the moment."

"Need another hug?"

"No." he said, trying not to smile. "I'm fine."

"What about candy?" she asked.

"What about it?" he asked, getting confused by the sudden topic change.

"What a lot you don't know, Commander." She said, taking out her cube of candies. Prowl's optics widened. That was a dangerous amount of candy. "A piece candy makes little hurts go away."

"It does not." He said, for it couldn't.

"Were you ever a sparkling?" Auri asked.

Prowl stopped and looked puzzled. Of course he'd been a sparkling. "Of course." He said.

"Don't be dense." Auri said, "What is one of the quickest ways of making a sparkling stop crying?"

Prowl opened his mouth to give the answer then shut it and half-smiled. "Candy." He said, "Very well, you are right."

Auri grinned happily and held out the cube of candy.

"Two questions." Prowl said as he took it and looked down at the contents. "Where did you get so much candy? And, do your guardians know about it?"

"Flareup gave it to me. And, Chromia knows, so Ironhide probably does." She answered. "And I've only had one piece."

"Ah." That was a relief. Wait. He looked up from the candies. "Flareup?"

Auri nodded. "Yes, indeed. She got back late this morning."

"Ah." No doubt she would be asking for an extension on the due date of her report. He looked down at the candies. So many to choose from…

"She came crashing into the femmes showers to get away from Ironhide because her armor was torn up and mangled and she wasn't in a mood to talk."

Prowl's face froze.

Ratchet chuckled. "You wanted to know that, didn't you, Prowl?"

Prowl gave Ratchet a dark look before turning back to Auri. "Was she alright?"

Auri shook her head. "Her back was torn up a bit but healed… but healed not well, so it hurt when Chromia took the back armor off." Auri looked down at her doll. "She screamed and cried even…" she said sorrowfully, feeling the pain again.

Prowl reached over and rubbed her arm comfortingly. "She will be alright, thought, will she not?" he asked gently.

Auri nodded. "Yeah… yes. She will." She answered thoughtfully. "Ratchet's a good medic."

"He is." Prowl said, glancing over at Ratchet then wondering why Ratchet had a slightly peculiar expression on his face.

"He'll take good care of her." Auri said, quickly encouraged. She looked back down at her candies. "Are you going to have one?"

Prowl nodded then got back to the business of looking at them.

"Make sure it's a logical choice of candy." Auri said in a serious tone, teasing him.

Prowl half-smiled. "Logic says choose your favorite."

"Well…?" Auri prodded, "Which one is your favorite?"

Prowl shook his head. "I am not sure…"

"Have a few." Auri said, leaning on his shoulder. "I couldn't eat this many candies in a year without getting in trouble or getting sick, and it's more fun to share, anyway."

Prowl turned the cube over twice. Then a bit of a smile touched his face. "A-oh." He made a discovery. Auri's chin poked his shoulder a little as she turned her head to see. "Perhaps these are not my very favorite, but I do enjoy these ones." He pointed to some that had sifted to the bottom.

"Those little tiny ones?" Auri asked. Little tiny candies weren't impressive. And she'd had some before. They didn't taste so great.

"Yes." Prowl carefully dug some of them out. They were small and rounded and came in different colors, different colors for different alloy bases. He warmed one between his fingertips until it became malleable, and then he rolled it and twisted it, altering its shape and consistency. Auri watched in fascination. Then he did the same with another of a different alloy. Then he spun then together and twisted them neatly until they looked more like art than candy. He held it for Auri to see and looked to see what she thought. She was impressed and delighted.

"There." He said, presenting it for her to take and eat. "Now see how you like 'those little tiny ones.'"

Auri got off his shoulder and took the candy, looking it over before she slipped it into her mouth. "Mm!" It was good!

"You must eat them the right way in order to truly access their full flavor." Prowl explained, melting two together for himself.

"Goo any coo go coogever?" Auri asked.

Prowl shook his head. "They are all safe together, but not all taste good together. Pairs are usually the best, but sometimes, if you have the right ones, you can put three together." He finished his candy and bit it part way in half. He paused, tasting it, then slipped the whole thing into his mouth. He almost looked a little smug as he mouthed it.

"Good…?" Auri asked. He nodded.

"Very good." He said, sounding pleased. He tilted the cube over again to find some more of the little tiny candies to melt.

Auri grinned in amused delight. Prowl was being down-right fun! She looked over at Ratchet with the grin still on her face. He had a baffled half-smile on his face.

"Hm,"

Auri turned back to see what Prowl had found to say 'hm' about. He'd found another candy in his search for the smaller ones.

"Is that one good?" Auri asked.

Prowl looked at her. "It is a candy." He said, "Of course it is."

"I meant… is it especially good to your sensors?"

Prowl nodded. "Yes, it is." He said then shook his head a little at himself. "I should have known you meant that."

"Yes, sir, you should have." Auri said, smiling. "I'll let you have the candy anyway, despite your silly logicalness."

"I thank you for your generosity." He said, making her giggle. "Oh…" he picked up the data-pad that had been long forgotten. "We should finish this."

"Yeah…" Auri said reluctantly. That side trip had been fun.

Prowl put the other candy in his mouth and sucked on it while he looked at the list. "Mneh-…ngh" he paused and made a face. He made another face. "I forgah abou' thi'…"

Auri covered her mouth with her hands but failed to stifle her laughter.

"Naugh fu'y!" Prowl protested, trying desperately to get the candy to unstuck from his mouth.

Auri giggled all the harder.

Prowl looked reproachful. Then he looked mischievous as he remembered something. "We ga'e suh' uh thi' kine' 'oo Blurr un time…"

Auri laughed at the thought of the complications of talkative Blurr having candy stuck in his mouth.

Prowl nodded. "We 'rr at the Univers'y then… Wicket prank on 'im. Lost of fun. 'Ats why I thought I yiked this can'y."

Auri was laughing quite hard by now, almost as hard as she had been when Flareup had been telling her tale of unrequited romance. Ratchet wondered if he should do something.

"Mmmm." Prowl shook his head. He chuckled at Auri for laughing so much at his expense. Then he started looking through the cube of candy again.

"More?" Auri asked incredulously.

Prowl nodded. He found a candy of a certain alloy and scanned it. This one would work. He put it in his mouth and chewed it a little with the horribly sticky candy. The sticky candy mixed and bonded with the second candy and unstuck from his mouth and became more enjoyable.

"No-kay." Prowl said, "That one helped the sticky one come off."

Auri giggled. "I never saw anyone have such a complicated time eating candy as you."

Prowl smiled ever so slightly, half chuckling at himself.

Then he noticed Ever-Near still lying on the berth and picked her up gently. Auri grew serious and semi-protective. Prowl again felt a painful little twist in his spark that he'd first felt when he's first seen her response to him touching her doll. He placed the doll softly on Auri's shoulder, snuggling it against her neck. Auri put her hand on the doll once he took his down, watching him protectively. Prowl felt bad about this, that she didn't trust him with her doll. It was just a doll to most bots, but to her it was more and special. He realized that, but she didn't seem to know that he did.

"I would never hurt her, Auri." He said softly, reaching out and rubbing her arm, "I understand how much you care for her."

Auri stroked the doll's back thoughtfully. Then she looked up at Prowl and gave him a smile to let him know that she trusted him.

He nodded to reassure her. Then he picked up the work data-pad. Auri scooted so they could both look at it, her door-wing brushing his slightly, and they got back to work.

Ratchet recorded several photographs of them without them noticing and filed them away. He also made a note to run some more scans of the antivirus as well as the virus code. He started a scan, and then wrote while it ran. He paused and glanced over at the two door-wingers again. Prowl… Prowl was not acting his usual self, and it was cause for note. He'd let Auri hug him, and he'd hugged her back for a long time. This was severely atypical of him. Ratchet looked back at Prowl again. He'd reached out to touch Auri several times. Even now, Auri's door-wing was touching his, and he wasn't moving it away. He never let other bots near his door-wings, let alone let them touch them repeatedly. Him blithely eating candy and shamelessly talking with it in his mouth was another oddity.

Ratchet went over came up behind the two. "Not eating too much candy, are you?" he asked, putting a hand on Auri's back and one on Prowl's mid back.

"I've only had four." Auri said, smiling coaxingly at him.

"And I seven… or eight…" Prowl said, hesitating as he counted.

"Don't expect much sympathy if you end up puking on the floor." Ratchet teased drily. He rubbed Prowl's wing.

"Of course I will not." Prowl said, "You will be too busy cleaning up." Auri giggled in appreciation of this wisecrack, and Ratchet raised his optic ridges.

"Oh, that's what you think?" Ratchet said.

"It will be until you prove it otherwise." Prowl said. "I feel fine, though, so you need not go looking for a mop just yet."

"I'll leave you to your work." Ratchet said, smiling. He let his optics widen in amazement once his back was turned on the young wingers. Prowl hadn't responded negatively to him touching his wings! Typically a touch on the wings made him scowl and twitch his wings away with a stern look at the offender.

Ratchet sat at his desk and put his elbows on it, resting his chin on his hands. Why, why, why would Prowl be acting like this? Allowing touch, jesting more than usual, and… just being easy-going. He for sure had not been acting like this earlier. Ratchet checked the scans. They needed a few more minutes.

First Aid came in looking bored. Research could be a tedious thing. He faltered when Ratchet eyed him keenly, though. Perhaps research wasn't so bad.

"Aid," Ratchet said, halting his retreat.

"Yes, sir?" He said, hoping he wouldn't be asked to do anything too unpleasant.

"Go rub one of Prowl's door-wings." Ratchet told her. He gave Ratchet an odd look. Prowl looked up on hearing his name, and his expression became confused and mystified once he realized what the command had been. Auri looked surprised and then shifted her wing so it wasn't against Prowl's.

"I do not like my door-wings getting touched." Prowl told Ratchet, not seeming to notice Auri's movements.

"We all know that." Ratchet said. "But what did I do a short while ago?"

Prowl frowned and as he thought this over. Then he looked bothered. "You rubbed my door-wing!" he protested.

"And you didn't respond to it." Ratchet pointed out.

Prowl looked very bothered.

"Is it some sort of side effect from the antivirus?" First Aid asked.

"I believe so." Ratchet said.

"What sort of side effect is it?" Prowl asked, looking worried. Auri's optics widened.

"Not sure yet." Ratchet said. "I'm getting ready to do a major scan of you in a few minutes, though."

"Ideas?" First Aid asked.

"Something might be interfering with any number of functions. Tactile sensors may be down and not fully registering touch. Or his logic core might be being suppressed. Or his defensive system may be impaired. Or something could be blocking signals… to name a few."

"Mm…" Prowl looked worried. He didn't like the sound of any of those.

Auri turned her attention from Ratchet and looked at Prowl speculatively. If his tactile sensors were down, he wouldn't be able to feel it much if she poked him.

"What?" Prowl asked, seeing her speculative expression directed at him.

She poked his arm with her finger. He looked at her like she was strange.

"Why did you poke me?" he asked.

"To see if your tactile sensors were down, silly."

"Ah." That made sense. "Well, I felt that, so they must not be." He said. Then he gave her a poke in return.

First Aid stared in amazement. Then he carefully came over. Prowl eyed him suspiciously but then relaxed. "Can I touch your wing?" Aid asked.

"No." Prowl said, shaking his head.

First Aid poked Prowl's wing with one finger.

Prowl gave him a slightly irritated look but made no movement in either rebuke or retaliation.

"Okay," Ratchet said, getting up. "We need to do that scan right now. This just simply isn't normal."

"Will it take long?" Auri asked, anxious to know what was going on with her friend.

"Only ten minutes." Ratchet said as he went over and powered up a machine.

"I don't like that scanner." Prowl said.

"You have no choice." Ratchet told him.

Prowl glared at him, but submissively allowed himself to be led over to the machine and laid on the berth beneath it.

"Ten minutes is a long time." Auri said anxiously, watching the scanner.

"It's alright." Ratchet told her. He finished setting up the scan and then looked over to her. She had taken her doll from her shoulder and was cradling it protectively in her arms. Ratchet went over to hug her then sat down beside her while First Aid monitored the scanner.

The ten minutes finally passed, and Ratchet left Auri and helped Prowl up off the berth, leading him back to his berth where Auri was.

"Well…?" Auri asked Ratchet as Prowl tiredly sat and leaned against her.

"Well…" Ratchet said slowly as he studied the scan reading. "The antivirus is pulling power from the defense core in Prowl's main battle computer…. which is making him less defensive. It's also taxing his logical core,"

"Making him less logical?" Auri asked, shifting to cuddle because it was easier to cuddle than it was to support.

"Exactly." Ratchet said, shooting them an expressionless glance.

"So, we have an easy-going, illogical Prowl on our hands?" First Aid asked.

Ratchet shook his head. "Not _illogical_." He said. "Less logical does not mean illogical. Less logical means more emotional. If logic is downplayed, then emotion rises. We have an easy-going slightly more emotional Prowl on our hands."

"Oh…" First Aid said, refiguring the equations in his head.

"Oh…!" Auri said, amazed at the prospect.

"Oh." Prowl said, trying to foresee future implications that this might cause. He couldn't really. There were too many variables to calculate, and it was a little late in the day to begin such work. He straightened and looked at Auri as he realized something.

She looked expectantly back, waiting for him to say something.

"You usually watch a movie with the twins at this time on this day of the week…. Are you not supposed to be with them now?" He asked.

Auri's wings dipped down and stayed there, and she lowered her optics. "They were too busy today, so we can't hang out tonight."

"Busy with what?" First Aid asked, unable to picture the twins too busy for anything related to fun. Ratchet looked over with a frown.

Auri shrugged. "I don't know. They were even too busy to say."

"No one can be _that_ busy." Prowl said, half-scowling. "Even _I_ do not get that busy."

"It's okay." Auri said unconvincingly. "We…" she trailed off as she realized something.

Prowl looked at her sharply. "Did they not even lunch with you?" he asked. The twins had a weekly lunch with Auri that they never broke. Or, never had broken until now.

"They were busy." Auri said.

"They are glitchheads." Prowl said, hugging her. Then he winced and loosened his grip. That had pained his sore shoulder. Auri moved from his arms and gently rubbed his shoulder.

"It's alright, Prowl. I lived eons and eons without them, so it's not much to skip a night. Besides, I'm busy, too."

Prowl considered this while he enjoyed the shoulder rub. He was going to answer her. At least, he intended to... But… the shoulder rub was very nice. Ratchet could give a nice shoulder rub, but his hands were a little too large for it to be completely comfortable. Ironhide's rubs were a little rough… Prowl wondered if Chromia minded or if Ironhide was more gentle with Chromia. Eh… Chromia was rough herself with most things, maybe… no, he wouldn't try to wonder about her. Ironhide said femmes were the most marvelous things but also the most inexplicable. Even Prime who knew so much could be baffled by his femme sometimes. Prime had a nice touch, but then, it did have the Prime power that flowed from it and made it good. Prime was usually gentle, too. That was the way he was with everything regarding his Bots, though. Gentle but firm, hard only when absolutely necessary… he didn't cut slack on things...

"We should finish up the office questions that you have before you have to leave." Prowl murmured. "Prime will want them done." He said more clearly, pulling himself from his musings.

Auri nodded doubtfully but obediently. She retrieved the data-pad and placed Ever-Near back on her shoulder. Then they went back to work, quietly -though sometimes slowly- discussing office things while Ratchet monitored them and did his own work.


	67. Chapter 67 doesn't have a proper title

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* * *

Chapter 67

**(No Title this time... It's okay, though, right? It's a nice, long chapter).**

Chromia watched as Ironhide gently mixed a special Energon cube for her at the table. She was sitting on the couch and had a good view of his profile while he worked. His expression was quiet and thoughtful and a little sad. She wanted to go kiss him and tell him everything was alright, but she knew that wouldn't work too well given her predicament.

She looked down at the restraints that bound her ankles together and knew that she'd fall flat on her face if she tried to get up. And she wouldn't be able to catch herself, either, for she had hand-cuffs on as well. She half-smiled. Some people might have been bothered had they known about her situation, but she knew better. Ironhide had been keeping the peace by restraining her, not trying to humiliate or demean her in any way.

She had come into the quarters in rage, having found out that Ironhide had spanked Flareup in the showers. She had launched at him verbally as well as physically for striking her femme-charge, landing several hard punches in the mech's more sensitive areas before he'd been able to stop her. He'd snapped the cuffs on her and then dodged kicks to bind her ankles.

"You can rant and yell and curse at me all you want," he'd said, "But I am not going to allow us to engage in physical violence."

So she had ranted and yelled and cursed at him for some time until she'd calmed down a little, and then she had berated him for his treatment of Flareup. He'd endured it, flinching several times and clenching his jaws until she'd had her say. Then he'd sat at her feet and gently explained his actions. She'd argued more with him at first, but then she'd started to see where he was coming from.

The argument was over now, finished and settled, and he was making dinner for her. She could sense that he felt badly about something, but he wasn't saying anything about it. If she had to take a guess, though, she'd say he probably thought she was still mad at him.

"'Hide," she called softly. He looked over. She smiled fondly at him. "Kiss?" she asked. A kiss would make everything better. She saw a smile touch his face for the first time that evening, and he came over to her.

"Not mad at me anymore?" he asked softly, hopefully.

She shook her head. "Not mad at you at all anymore." She said. He bent over, and she slipped her cuffed hands over his head then kissed him. He kissed back and took her in his arms. She tried to hug her legs around his waist, but she found that the bonds prohibited that. And the hands-cuffs were a little uncomfortable now. Ironhide gently started kissing her neck.

"Um, Ironhide." Chromia said. It wasn't romantic.

"Mm…?"

"This would be more effective and more comfortable if I wasn't bound hand and foot."

"Oh," it was a tone of surprise and apology. "Let me fix that…" He supported her behind with one hand and reached behind his neck with the other and removed the hand-cuffs. She got a better grip on his neck and bent her knees, bringing her feet up so that he could reach her ankles. He soon removed those bonds, and then she hugged her legs around his waist.

"Better?" he asked although he knew the answer.

"Oh, yes." She said, sighing contentedly as she snuggled him. "Only I'm hungry."

"I can fix that, too…." He carried her over to the table and seated her on it. Then he sat on a stool by her feet and took the cube he had mixed. "Energon for my Chromia." He murmured, offering it up to her.

"Thank-you," she said taking it with a smile. He gave her a sip from his own cube, and she tilted her cube against his lips. Then they drank their own.

"When is Auri due back?" Ironhide asked, watching his femme.

"Not for a couple hours." She replied, smiling down at him over the edge of her Energon cube.

XOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOX

Ratchet thoughtfully studied the computer screen before him. First Aid was leaning on the desk at his elbow and studying it as well. Perhaps they didn't look like they were working, but they were.

Auri and Prowl were still working on Auri's office questions. Prowl was having to work harder than usual to make logical arguments to help Auri sort out her problems, but he was still doing it.

"You're tired, Prowl." Auri said. "We should stop and not wear you out." She glanced over at Ratchet's back. "Medics don't like it when their patients overwork and get setbacks." She whispered.

"Medics do not always get their ways, but I guess we should stop." Prowl whispered back.

Ratchet and First Aid jerked their heads around. Prowl rarely whispered.

Auri smiled innocently. "We were just discussing stopping work." She said.

"And you had to whisper to do that?" Ratchet asked.

"No." Prowl said, looking slightly mischievous. "We had to whisper to talk about medics."

"Ah." Ratchet said. He and First Aid turned uncertainly back to the computer.

"He's kinda unnerving like this." First Aid whispered to Ratchet.

"That is because you've never known him like this. He wasn't always the Prowl you know." Ratchet whispered back.

"Now who is whispering?" Prowl called. Auri giggled, but Ratchet heard a slightly uncertain edge to it. Clearly First Aid wasn't the only one who was a little unnerved by the easy-going Prowl. Ratchet wondered if it wasn't' a little late for the femme-ling to be up, though.

Ratchet went over to the door-wingers.

"That was weird of me, was it not?" Prowl asked, looking uncertain.

"Not weird, but unusual." Ratchet told him. He looked over at Auri and cocked his head slightly. "I'm not kicking you out or anything like that, Auri," he said, "But is it nearing time your bedtime?"

"Usually it would be." Auri said. "But I get to stay up late and hang out with the twins on this day of the week, so it's not this time."

Ratchet smiled at her way of looking at it. "Just because you usually stay up on this day doesn't mean you have to."

"I know that." Auri said, nodding her head. "And I _was_ going to go home early, but…" she paused and looked sideways. "When I started to open the door, I could hear Chromia sounding _really_ mad at Ironhide about something, so I came here instead."

"Ah…"

"I highly doubt it lasted very long," Auri said with a shrug, "But who wants to go interrupt them when they're making up."

Prowl chuckled. Everybody twitched and stared at Prowl.

"Okay, these side-effects are serious…" Prowl murmured.

Ratchet reached out and patted his good shoulder. "It's alright." He told Prowl gently, "We're all your friends."

"Yeah." Auri said, hugging him.

"Do not develop habit of this." Prowl told her gently as he hugged her back. "It will be over once I am cleared to leave Med-Bay."

"Okay." Auri said, but she thought he might be wrong. She hoped he was wrong. It was nice to be able to hug him like Bee and the twins.

"When are your guardians expecting you back?" Prowl asked when the hug was finished.

"About an hour." Auri said.

He had an idea. "I believe there is a game I could teach you in twenty minutes. Then we could play a couple rounds in the remaining time."

"Okay!" Auri loved games. She put her doll away and pushed the injector to the end of the berth. When she turned back, Prowl had taken a 3D board with several levels from subspace and placed it on the berth between himself and Auri.

Auri watched as he took out a number of playing pieces and a deck of cards. This looked like it would be fun.

OoOoOoOoOoOoOoO

Elita was still out on the practice field with Firestar and Moonracer. Apparently those two had scored a little low in the night competition and needed a little extra coaching. Thus, Optimus was all alone for the evening. He'd intercommed his mate earlier and gotten an estimate on her return time. Checking the time now, he decided that he could go visit the Bots in Med-Bay for a little while and be back about the same time Elita would be.

He drove to Med-Bay and transformed before entering. No one was in the main room, but he could hear voices in the main side room, he made his way over to the door and peeked in. Ratchet and First Aid were at the computer, and Auri and Prowl were sitting and playing a game. The medics were talking in undertones with each other. Auri was scowling thoughtfully at the board, and Prowl was looking rather pleased for a Bot who rarely showed his feelings.

Auri reached out and made a move slowly but didn't take her hand from the playing piece after moving it.

"I'm… not sure yet…" She said slowly.

"I will be able to take out three of your men if you make that move." Prowl sounded almost playful.

"Oh!" she moved it back hastily.

"Go up one level, and there is a move you can make that will allow you to take one of my men."

Auri studied the next level. "Uh-uh…!" she said after some contemplation. "There's a move I can make that will take out _two_ of your men!"

Prowl nodded. "Well… yes..."

Auri made it and looked quite delighted.

Then Prowl made a move and completely defeated her.

"OOOOH!" She howled. "It was a trap!"

"It _was_ a trap." Prowl said. "Had you been content with one, and considered possibilities for my subsequent moves, you would not have lost."

"Ohhhhh…!" She mourned.

"Planning ahead and considering your opponent's options are necessary skills for this game."

Auri looked unhappy as she took back her captured pieces.

Prowl realized that telling her what to do probably wasn't best thing to do at the moment. It was getting a little late. He reached over and patted her shoulder. "Do not fret, Aurion. You are doing very well for a beginner. With practice, you will be very good."

She still looked a little upset. She especially looked tired now.

"I fell for that trap one time myself." Optimus said, deciding that now would be a good time to enter. "Only my opponent was not quite so gracious."

"Your opponent was most likely Ironhide." Prowl replied with a saucy flit of his door-wings. Optimus stopped in his tracks as his optics widened in surprise. "Oh…" Prowl said, "Ah, Ratchet gave me a newly formatted antivirus, and it severely taxes my logic core, creating a slight anomaly in my behavior."

"Oh" was all Optimus could figure out to say.

"Yes." Prowl said, putting away the game and turning to Auri. "Auri, do not be upset." He said gently, "You are learning. We can play more tomorrow, and you will see improvement. You played a good round this time, so you ought not be upset by the end result. Understood?"

Auri nodded. "Understood." She said.

"Good." Prowl said. He gave her a gentle hug. "It is late now, so perhaps you can get First Aid to walk you home?"

Auri melted against him but nodded. "Yeah."

"Or maybe Optimus could take you home…?" he suggested. Everybody except Auri looked at him in amazement. He never volunteered higher officers for things without asking first.

"I would like that." Auri said sleepily. The hug had made her sleepier than before.

"I would be glad to take you home." Optimus said gently. He had to get answers from Ratchet later, though. What was going on with his Second-in-Command?

Optimus went over and gently took Auri from Prowl's arms then tried to settle her on his own shoulder.

"Hey," She protested crossly, squirming a little, "I can walk!"

She squeaked a little when his arm supporting her legs tightened uncomfortably. She got very still.

"Is that how you speak to me?" Optimus asked seriously.

Auri shook her head. "No, sir." She replied. "Not even when I'm tired and cross." She added soberly.

Optimus worked to not smile at the second part of her answer. "How should you have spoken?" he asked more gently as he eased his hold.

"Respectfully?" she asked.

He nodded. His optics softened as he watched her face. She thought things over a little and then moved and hugged him.

"I will speak respectfully next time." She promised.

"Very good." He praised gently. He crouched and set her feet on the floor and let her go before rising again. "I will see you later." He told the other Bots then turned to leave. He brushed his hand against Auri's shoulder as he turned to let her know that they were going, and she walked just behind him to his right as he left Med-Bay.

He stood at the door, allowing her to exit first, and then went out himself. She fell back in place, but he didn't like it.

He stopped. "Auri," he said turning to look at her, and he found conflict written all over her face. He crouched down to her height and put a hand on her arm. "What is wrong, sparklet?" he asked.

"I was too busy making a scene to remember to say bye to Prowl." She said, trying not to show how upset she was.

He shook his head and gave her a hug. "You could have asked once you realized it." He told her gently. He let her go and looked into her optics. "There is nothing disrespectful about asking me something, understood?"

Auri nodded and rubbed her optics. "Understood." She said. "May I go tell him bye now?" she asked. He nodded then watched as she scampered back to the Med-Bay door and slipped in.

::Ironhide,:: he hailed his weapons specialist on a private intercom.

He had to wait several seconds longer than usual, but Ironhide's answer finally came over.

::Here, Prime.:: Ironhide replied.

::I am bringing you a slightly grumpy but still fairly sweet Auri.::

::Ah. Thank-you for the heads up. Wait. Where are the twins?::

::Twins? I have no idea. …why?::

::She usually has movie night with the twins. Where was she?:: Ironhide sounded a little concerned now.

::She was sitting on Prowl's berth in Med-Bay playing _nifl-rr_ with him.::

::I was going to teach her that.::

::Well, it looks like Prowl beat you to it.:: Optimus replied. Then he added, ::At least you got to teach me.::

::True. How was she doing?::

::She fell for one of the same tricks I fell for.:: Optimus told him and got a chuckle over the comm.. ::I will see you shortly.:: He said then signed off as Auri came into view.

"Good-byes all said?" he asked the little femme.

"Yes, thank-you." she answered softly, coming over.

"You are welcome." He said, his tone gentle. His caressed her wings with his fingertips once she was at his side.

She smiled up at him and reached for his hand. He was puzzled as to why she did this, but he held out his hand for her. She slipped her little hand in his and held it. He blinked. She wanted to hold hands as they walked, he realized. It warmed his spark.

They walked hand in hand, Auri feeling safe and secure, and Optimus feeling wonder. Auri loved having someone there, someone big and strong, close by, ready to look after her. It was nice.

Both Bots enjoyed the walk, but they came to Ironhide and Chromia's quarters fairly soon, and Optimus knocked on the door. Auri leaned on him sleepily while they waited a couple seconds. Optimus gazed down at her and wondered what it would be like to have a femme-ling of his own. It would be special, he knew. But, he also knew that it would not be wise to have one until the war was over.

Ironhide opened the door and smiled at the sight that met his optics.

"Delivery of one sleepy femme-ling," Optimus told him, making him chuckle softly.

Ironhide crouched down. "Auri," he said. She made a soft "mmmf?" sound and swayed a little. He looked up at Optimus. "More like one _sleeping_ femme-ling." He said with a smile.

Optimus leaned over and picked Auri up, receiving no resistance. Ironhide rose and stepped out of the way so that he could carry Auri in. Optimus crossed the room to the couch and stooped over it, gently lowering Auri to rest on it. She whimpered softly and clung to him, not opening her optics, though.

"No…" she protested softly. "Stay…"

Optimus straightened, still holding her. He cradled her in his arms. "Auri," he said softly, "I need to recharge in my own quarters. Ironhide and Chromia will be here with you." He frowned when she didn't respond.

"Trying putting her down again." Ironhide whispered. "Maybe she's in deep enough recharge now that she won't notice."

Optimus tried again and succeeded this time. He straightened and looked down at her fondly.

"Sweet, huh?" Ironhide asked, his delight at having a femme-ling hardly hidden.

Optimus nodded. He met Ironhide's optics and smiled. "Good night." He said.

"Good night." Ironhide told him, and then he turned to leave.

Auri gasped and rolled over, effectively halting the mechs. She looked troubled though half awake. "I left my candy cube in Med-Bay..." She murmured.

"We can get it in the morning." Ironhide promised, smiling.

Auri frowned. "Will… Prowl eat my candies…?"

Ironhide shook his head. "He knows not to eat things that aren't his." He said, hiding a chuckle at the thought of this.

"Oh… kay…" Auri rolled back against the back of the couch. "He had a time eating them 'iss afternoon…" she murmured as her optics closed.

"I am sure." Ironhide said softly. Optimus slipped out, and Ironhide went over and covered Auri with her blanket. He planted a kiss on her little head and then quietly went back to Chromia in their bedroom.

OoOoOoOoOoOoOoO

Optimus entered Med-Bay for a second time that evening and found it much quieter. Venturing into the main side room, he found Prowl in recharge and the two medics very much as he'd left them.

"Might I have some explanations?" Optimus asked softly.

Ratchet looked over from his work and nodded. "We have some partial ones." He said. "Come, have a seat."

Optimus brought a chair over to Ratchet's computer center and placed it so that he could see the screen.

"The antivirus was altering Prowl's behavior by taking power away from his logic core and his defense system." Ratchet said. "It was draining the energy from them and weakening them. The weakened defense system left Prowl less… defensive, less 'No-touch-me' and less standoffish. As for the weakened logic system, it didn't make him illogical as some might suppose. It allowed the repressed emotion-core to begin functioning more freely."

Optimus nodded his understanding.

"And that is basically that." Ratchet concluded. Then he was quiet for several seconds, looking thoughtful. "I have found something else of interest, though, Optimus." He said softly.

Optimus cocked his head, hearing a very quiet note in his medic's tone. "What, Ratchet?" he asked, uncertain as to whether he should be afraid or not.

"That's not the only thing that's been going on with Prowl's emotion-core." Ratchet said, pulling up a series of 3D screens. Optimus frowned at them, trying to guess what they meant. "Every single one of us has an emote-core." Ratchet said. "Most of them function normally. Not all of them are perfectly balanced, though. Ironhide's…" he pulled up another screen, "Has as tendency towards allow more anger and aggression through." He closed the screen, "The twins… we won't go there very far, but there's something up with the pleasure center in their emote-cores. Pleasure transmits relatively low for them, and this explains why they act up to amuse themselves so much. They need a higher amount of stimuli to get the same amount of pleasure that another bot would get from a lower stimulus."

"Hm."

"Now… regarding Prowl…" Ratchet said softly. He pulled up the other screens again. "He was basically fine during his early sparkling years… until some trauma cut this rift in his core here." He pointed to one of the screens. "Time passed, and it was able to heal. Here's a scan from that time; it looks basically normal." Ratchet pulled up several more scans. "These are sequential as he grew and matured. You can see that he was badly hurt emotionally several times, and these left several scars. Most Bots just heal, but he apparently didn't. He even went so far as to place emotional blocks around each scarred memory. More of the emote-core is repressed following each new scarring incident. It's like he didn't want to get hurt that way again, so he blocked the areas."

Optimus nodded slowly.

Ratchet reluctantly pulled up another screen. First Aid looked away.

"Here's what the Cons did…" Ratchet whispered, afraid to speak aloud lest it prove too painful. This screen looked nothing like the others. It was a network of rifts and tears and twists. "It would have killed him if his logic core hadn't been so strong." Ratchet whispered. "These screens are follow-ups, and you can see that the healing process has been slow to non-existent in some areas."

Optimus ran his optics slowly over the screens, feeling pain and suffering in his spark for his Second-in-Command.

Ratchet brought up another screen. "Here is a scan from about six weeks before Auri arrived." He said, putting beside the others for comparison. "Quite a long time passed between these two. –I have scans from then but am skipping them for time's sake.- You can see he finally healed somewhat. Here's the scan from one week before Auri arrived. There is hardly any evidence of healing in those two weeks.

"Now," he pulled up two more screens. "This one was taken roughly three weeks after Auri had been working in his office, and this one was taken about two weeks afterwards."

Optimus studied them and hesitated. Ratchet glanced over at him after a few seconds. Optimus was focusing on one minute area in each of the screens.

Several more seconds slipped by.

"Slight progress…?" Optimus asked although afraid to be wrong.

Ratchet nodded. It was the slightest of slight progress, but it was progress.

They were quiet for a while before Ratchet spoke again.

"I'm not sure yet how or why, but Auri is the only new variable, so I can only assume that interacting with Auri has started to help heal or retrain Prowl's emote-core." He said. "Granted, it's only a tiny bit, but it's more than it was before. Subsequent scans show steady progress of about 0.0005% a week."

"At that rate, he'll be all better in about 40,000 years." First Aid said tonelessly.

"Considering that we'd thought practically _no_ recovery would occur," Ratchet said with a little force directed at First Aid, "40,000 years is looking up."

"I know. I know." First Aid said softly, nodding. "I didn't mean… to… to come across… It's hard... hard…"

"It is hard for many of us to handle." Optimus told him gently. "I know you were not speaking unkindly."

First Aid gave him a grateful look, and he nodded back.

Ratchet closed the screens. "I will continue to keep a close watch on-"

"Hey! Ratchet!" Elita called from the main room,

"Here," Ratchet called back, getting a look that said "uh-oh."

"I need you to mend my arm quickly before Opt…" she broke off as she entered the room and saw Optimus. She grinned with amusement at finding her mech there. "Before Optimus missed me. Hello!"

"Hello…" he greeted her, rising as he got worried.

Ratchet rose as well, little scanner in hand.

"It's just a slight twist …" Elita said. "Several of us femmes were doing night practice. Ow." She grimaced as Ratchet touched arm.

"A little out of joint." Ratchet concluded. "Lie down over there, and I'll put it back in place before you can yell 'Scrap that hurt.'"

"Oh, I yell _that_ pretty fast." Elita joked lightly as she went over to a berth. She lay down. "What's with Auri's giant cube of candy doing at the foot a Prowl's berth?"

"She left it on accident." Optimus said. He stooped and picked it up and placed it on a shelf. "She will be back for it tomorrow." He told Ratchet.

"No doubt." The medic chuckled.

"She was afraid Prowl was going to eat it."

Ratchet laughed outright. "I would be too if he was awake."

"OW-WRECKITTHAT-" Elita started to scream. "Oh…" Ratchet was done. "Ow…" she said dully.

"I'll carry you home." Optimus offered.

Ratchet chuckled. "Let me give her a mild pain-killer, and then you may." He said.

"Huh…?" Prowl rolled over and gave them groggy look, "You have her anatomy mixed up if you're carrying her for _that_."

First Aid did his best to not snicker and ended up snorting instead. He would have been embarrassed, but Ratchet's chuckling covered the snort and no one heard it.

"Ironhide, I'm sure would have an inappropriate comeback for that." Prowl muttered a second later.

"What do you have him on?" Elita asked as she stared first at Prowl and then at Ratchet.

"A variety of things." Ratchet said drily as he gently injected a mild pain-killer near her shoulder. "Alright. You may take her home now." He told Optimus.

Optimus gently lifted her in his arms bridal style. "Good night." He told the mechs.

"Good night." Ratchet said and First Aid murmured. Prowl was back in recharge and made no reply.

OoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoO

The morning sun shone fair and bright on NEST Base the next day, and Agent Amy Sora angrily pegged her phone across the room. It landed with a soft thump on her suitcases. She'd set the alarm on it and checked it four times before going to bed. It hadn't gone off. Due to jetlag, now, she'd overslept.

She pressed her hand against her forehand and sighed. Throwing the phone wasn't necessary. It was rather childish, actually, now that she thought about it. She got up and retrieved it. Standing there in her pajamas, she dialed the number that Auri had given her to contact her directly.

"Please pick up," Amy murmured anxiously.

"Hello?" Auri's voice was clear. Evidently she had not just woken up.

"Auri, Auri, hi,"

"Good morning, Agent Sora." Auri said softly,

Amy took a deep breath and calmed herself. "I overslept." She said, "I set an alarm, but I must have slept through it."

"That is alright." Auri's voice was very soft. "I understand that jetlag can be rough on people. We can set our meetings back a couple hours."

"Oh, thank-you. Thank-you very much."

"It is alright. Have a good breakfast and call me when you are ready."

"Okay. I will." Amy was so relieved that she didn't realize how disappointed Auri's tone was.

"Good bye."

"Good bye." Amy hung up and sighed. What a mess. What a great big mess.

It was an even bigger mess than she knew of, though. She didn't know that her facebook page showed that she'd been playing "Marvel: Avengers Alliance" and "Car Town" and "Social Wars" for several hours. Nor did she know that Auri was looking at it with a troubled look on her face.

Amy went to go take a shower. The warm water was nice for about two minutes. Then it turned cold, and she yelped and ducked to in a vain attempt to avoid the chilly spray.

"Nooooo…" she mourned aloud. "No. Bah!" she tried to adjust the temperature, but it didn't help. She was going to have to take a cold shower.

She was shivering and miserable by the time she was done, and she'd never had a faster shower in her life.

"This is not my day." She muttered as she stepped into a pair of pants. She found a shirt and buttoned it and belted it and went to fix her hair.

She didn't have time to use her hairdryer, so she brushed her hair back wet and wrapped a ponytail-holder tightly around it. She was quick with her makeup and then headed downstairs to see about breakfast.

There was bread in the fridge, but the toaster had a goofy smirk on its dial.

"Oh, come on. Get over it." She told herself. "It just a toaster."

"That's what you think." The toaster said in a spooky voice.

"AIIIIIIIIGH!" Amy screamed, bolting across the room. "AEEEEGH!" She ran upstairs and slammed the door behind her. She spent several minutes standing there trying to calm down. She finally went and got her shoes and put them on.

She went downstairs and quietly took two slices of bread from the fridge and hastily spread some jam on them, cold. Then she placed the two slices together in a sort of sandwich and headed out the front door. She would sit outdoors to eat.

She turned from closing the door and was relieved to see that her car was still there, all whole and looking untouched. For some reason, she'd been worried that something would happen to that car. She sighed and sat down on the front step. She ate there on the step, feeling miserable. She was late, and cold, and had a pathetic breakfast, and had a talking toaster in her kitchenette. She wasn't a happy person.

Once she finished her breakfast, she went back into the apartment and washed her hands before getting her briefcase. She made sure that she had her phone, and then she went out and locked the door.

She turned from locking the door and gasped involuntarily at the sight of the twins standing by her car.

"Seriously?" Sunny asked. "Are we that scary?"

"You just startled me, that's all." Amy said, wondering if she should be scared. They didn't seem very threatening at the moment, though. They didn't seem overly friendly either.

"Ah." Sunny said, looking down at her speculatively.

"Are… you here for something?" Amy asked uncomfortably.

"We just wanted to tell you that in Cybertronian culture it is considered excessively rude to make someone completely reschedule his or her day at your leisure." Sides said nonchalantly.

"Oh." Amy felt her face warm. "Thank-you for the heads up." She said stiffly. She moved towards her car and fumbled with the keys to find the right one. She found it and opened the passenger door and climbed in. She closed the door and then slid over to the driver side. It was the more complicated way of getting into a car, but it kept her away from the twins. She only hoped that they wouldn't keep standing there and block her in.

"Hey," Sunny leaned over so that she could see his face through the window on her left.

"Y-yes?"

Sunny tapped the fender lightly. "The Bots also don't appreciate questions that are overly personal."

"I believe Auri was assigned to be my handler so that she could monitor and direct me as necessary." Agent Sora said crisply. "Excuse me now. I have appointments to keep."

She looked down and started the engine and then looked up to find that the twins were gone. She breathed a sigh of relief and shifted the car to drive. Time to make the best of what was left of the morning.

OoOoOoOoOoOoO

"Sunny," Sides began quietly.

"Yeah?" Sunny answered. He glanced around. They were walking towards the challenge course, and no one was in sight.

"Does… does what we're doing ever make you feel…"

"Guilty?"

Sides nodded.

Sunny nodded. "It does a bit." He said quietly as he lowered his optics. "Sometimes I wish we could just drop the whole thing, but that would leave Auri thinking this liaison is a fine person, and that the next liaison would be a fine person, too."

"And I know we can't do that." Sides said grimly. "She's got to be taught that liaisons are bad, even if this one isn't."

"Yeah." Sunny said, "It would be a little easier if this liaison was bad, though, instead of nice. Besides that fact that we're deceiving everybody like a couple of Cons, I think that's what's making us feel guilty…."

"Yeah… and the fact that we've sort of been avoiding Auri."

"We need to fix that." Sunny frowned. "Making Amy Sora look bad is a mostly full time job, though."

"Hey, we could hang out after hours." Sides realized eagerly.

"Yeah, we have movie ni… aw… blast. That was last night, and we blew it off. I could kick myself."

"And ding your paint?" Sides teased.

Sunny laughed at him. "Okay, okay. I could kick you for letting me blow it off."

Sides chuckled. "Like that's gonna happen."

"Count on it someday, Bro." Sunny said then sobered. "Come on; let's hurry with this so we can work on Amy's laptop before lunch."

"Okay. Hey, maybe we can catch Auri on her lunch break and reschedule movie night."

"Sounds good!"

They got to their destination, a pull-off area on a dirt road that overlooked part of the challenge course. Sides dropped Amy Sora's phone on the grass where it would be visible but not like to get damaged.

"Liaisons don't always listen to 'no trespassing' signs." Sides said. The talk had cleared out the guilty feelings, and he was enjoying the set up more now. "In fact, liaisons rather like to see what's beyond them."

"Not too smart leaving behind a phone, though." Sunny said, smirking.

OoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoO

Prowl eyed Auri's cube of candy as evening time drew near. It was up a shelf; One of the tall bots had put it there. He vaguely remembered Prime being here last night. Prime could have easily put it there without a thought. It was quite high up. He couldn't reach it. He knew Auri had to come and get it sometime, though.

He wished she would come and get it now. The day had been alright, but it would be better if Auri came by. He had played Sudoku for several hours. …Auri had suggested this after one of her friends had mentioned it. He'd enjoyed playing Sudoku, but after several hours even he had needed a change of activity.

He'd snuck off and visited Flareup, and she'd told him about her trip. He'd made notes the entire time and had helped her with writing her report, much to her unmitigated surprise. Afterwards he'd snuck back into the main side room where his berth was, and Ratchet had been there. Ratchet had started to scold him then, but he'd dropped into recharge before Ratchet had finished. That was one way to get out of a scolding: to drop into recharge.

The twins had skipped movie night with Auri last night, Prowl remembered. He considered that maybe they would make it up tonight. Auri would be happy about it, but that would leave him lonely. Well, Auri needed to be looked after and taken care of; she should be with the twins, and he would not be selfish about it.

He did miss her, though.

If he was the prank-pulling type, he thought, he would empty some of Auri's candy into a different cube and pretend that he had eaten it a huge amount in her absence. He smiled at such nonsense, especially at such nonsense coming from his own processor.

He sighed and lay down on his belly. What to do…? Ratchet was out. Jolt wasn't around. First Aid was chatting with Flareup in the other room, and Flareup probably wouldn't be breaking up the conversation any time soon. He could do anything he wanted to, providing it didn't break any of Ratchet's rules.

He slipped his music player from subspace and looked at it before setting in down. Then he took his own secret stash of candy from subspace and took a piece. He put the candy in his mouth and put the stash away again. He retrieved his data-pad and uploaded a new game of Sudoku.

Picking up the music player again, he studied a summary of the songs on it then put it away. He had an older music player than he wanted to hear again. He knew that once the antivirus quit messing with his emote-core, the old memories connected with the music would haunt and hurt him, but for now, he was pretty certain he could enjoy the songs he used to love. He found the old music player. The twins would probably do serious damage for it. They would never know about it, though. He smiled.

He stuck the player on his shoulder and ran the Cybertronian version of an ear-bud or headset to his helm and clipped it in place.

"Track 42." He said to himself quietly as he taped a few buttons. For a moment he was afraid it would hurt, but the next moment, when he heard the first chord of the song, he knew he was fine. "Yeeeeah…" he purred. He shook his head slowly with pleasure as the song started up. '_Shimmy, an' dip, an' move to the song,_' he mouthed the words that accompanied the party dance beat. '_Bots in car mode, Transform, let's go- 'cause we're gonna dance - rock rock jiggety rock, jiggety rock hey! Oh… yeeeeah…- I am the one on the dance-dance floor -'_

Prowl realized that he'd been mouthing the words and stopped. It would really weird the other bots out (to say the least) if they caught him mouthing lyrics to one of Axelbash's hit party songs. The twins might even glitch out if they knew. That would be a fun change.

He kicked his feet ever so slightly to the song as he quietly worked on his Sudoku. Oh, this was fun. He wished that he'd thought of playing his old favorites earlier that day. That beat… was so perfect. And the logic of the Sudoku game was soothing. He finished a game and started another one. A nine had to go here. And five could go either here or there. All the sixes were filled in, making it a little easier. A one went here, and another one went there. He inserted a seven then switched it out for an eight as the next track of Axlelbash's best started playing. All was good in Prowl's world.

* * *

One of my readers actually suggested Sudoku on Auri's facebook page in "real life," and I couldn't help but stick it in the actual story. :) Thanks for the added fun. And after writing the part with Prowl doing his Sudoku, I went found my old book and tried it again and actually enjoyed it this time. :)


	68. Chapter 68, Escapades, Friends, & Allies

Sorry for the delay in this update! I went out of town over the weekend to visit a friend. (Eight and a half hour drive! LONG! Best friends are worth it, though). There was a car show an hour and a half away from where I was staying, and my friend took my sister and me to see it. It was awesome! **AND, Bumblebee was there! **Seriously! It was the special Transformers edition of the Chevy Camaro, and it had the Autobot insignia on its sides and hubcaps and headrests, and Cybertronian by its headlight. It was EPIC! I got pictures, and you can see them on my facebook page:  
www. facebook. com/ pages/ Cairistona/ 283198991745833? ref=tn_tnmn  
(Copy, Paste, Take out the spaces)

And I'm also putting some of the car show pictures on deviantArt as well.  
cairistona. deviantart. com/

One more thing… I wrote a TF: Prime fanfic last week before I left on my trip. It's a non-slash on Knockout's thoughts, actions, and reactions as he returns to the ship after getting run over by the subway train in the episode "Tunnel Vision." Check it out please if you like TFP!  
www. fanfiction. Net /s/ 8143268/1/

Hey! More Prowl fluff! I'll get to more action soon, promise. ;)

* * *

Chapter 68

**Escapades, Friends, and Allies**

Prowl had lost count of how many songs he's listened to, but he knew he'd played six games of Sudoku. He got another piece of candy and began work on a seventh game. Five here, nine there. A seven or a six could go here, but he knew that a four definitely went over there.

"Hello!" Auri yelled beside him.

"YAHHHH!" Prowl jumped up onto his knees before he even realized it. "Hello." He said, seeing her for the first time. '_How long have you been standing there?_' he wondered. He sat down and removed the music player and hid it away in subspace. "You startled me." He said.

"Oh, did I?" Auri widened her optics with an innocent air.

Prowl half-chuckled at himself. "I guess that was obvious."

"I'll say." Auri said, climbing up onto the berth uninvited. "You really seemed to be enjoying yourself."

"To a certain degree, yes." Prowl put a hand out to steady her as she pulled herself up.

Auri smiled, knowing Prowl rarely cared to admit to enjoying himself.

"How was your day?" Prowl asked, scooting so that Auri wouldn't have to perch near the edge.

"Rough." She said with a sigh. "Agent Sora never showed up for two hours. Then she called me and said that she'd overslept. But… but her facebook showed that she'd been playing on it for two hours." Auri looked unhappy.

Prowl frowned.

Auri went on. "I had to rearrange appointments, and nobody was very pleased. I tried to explain to Agent Sora some about our culture in regards to that, but she got cross. She was a little cross all morning, and I was glad to leave her at lunch." She said shamefacedly.

"It is more than understandable that you would be." Prowl told her gently.

"The twins met me at lunch, but then _I_ was cross, and I wasn't very nice to them." Auri pressed a hand to her optics.

"Auri…" he said slowly, "I think they will probably understand once you explain it to them."

"I did explain it, and they did understand." Auri half-wailed. "They were very, very nice, and it made me feel like even more of a brat. An ungrateful brat."

"You are not a brat, Auri." He told her, scooting over and hugging her. "Everybody has bad days and bratty moments. You will have tomorrow, and things can be repaired." He assured her.

"You sure?" Auri asked, sniffling as she calmed down.

"Very sure." Prowl said. "The odds of the universe ending are so minute that even the finest codes in my calculator cannot come up with an algorithm to compute them."

Auri giggled at this. "You're being silly."

"Yes… I am." Prowl said drily. "Did the rest of the day go worse?"

Auri shook her head. "No, it went the same. She was late after lunch, so I had to rearrange more appointments. And then we ended short because I had to go work in the office, and she had to go type her reports. The office work went well, though, and then Magnus took me shooting on the practice field because I'd been teasing him about shooting earlier."

"Ah…" Prowl realized that he was still holding her and let go. He picked up his data-pad and held it without looking at it. "He is a good shot, is he not?"

"Yes, but not as good as Ironhide." Auri said matter-of-factly.

Prowl nodded in agreement. "Do not ever tell him that, though."

"Oh, I won't." Auri said, smiling. "I did tell Ironhide over dinner, though, and he liked that."

Prowl half-chuckled at the obviousness of Auri's statement. "Auri, any mech will like it when you tell him that he shoots better than another mech."

"Really?"

He nodded.

"Well, you shoot better than Sunny does." She said, and then she giggled at the expression that played on Prowl's face. He halted a smirk half-way then managed to just look slightly pleased.

"That..." He didn't know what to say. "Auri."

"You liked hearing that." She said, obviously tickled.

He shifted his door-wings. "Thus my point is proven." He said, only half-managing to hide a smile.

Auri chuckled happily, well amused with Prowl's attempt at sidestepping.

Prowl shook his head at himself. "Dinner was nice then?" He asked, moving back to the subject of Auri's day.

"Yes." Auri said nodding. "Ironhide and Chromia and I had a splendid time. And now Ironhide's on patrol, and Chromia's on a different patrol."

"Oh." He didn't recall Chromia ever having an evening shift.

"Chromia has part of your job now, temporarily." Auri explained.

"Ah. Oh… this is why she has an evening patrol?"

Auri nodded. "She has quite a number of your patrols now."

Prowl digested this information. He'd never thought of having Chromia on the law enforcement team. That could go well, or it could go like a nightmare.

"How was your day?" Auri asked, switching the conversation's focus over to him.

He smiled halfway. "It was tolerable and not bad for a day in Med-Bay. I spent time listening to Flareup, and some time in recharge, and a lot of time on Sudoku."

"You like Sudoku?" Auri asked, cocking her head inquisitively.

"I like it." Prowl said, nodding. Auri was pleased by this answer, he could tell.

"I'm glad you have something to do that you like that Ratchet doesn't object to." Auri stated.

Prowl's optics widened in amusement. "I sound like a regular trouble-maker when you put it that way."

"Oh, it came out wrong." Auri grinned as she realized what she'd said. Then she giggled at Prowl.

"Indeed." Prowl said, smiling.

There was a pause.

"Where's my candy cube?" Auri asked.

"Oh." Prowl dropped his wings down. "I was thinking you had come to see me."

Auri's wings twitched up. "Well, I… I _did_ come to see you, but… but… I-I was…"

"Auri." Prowl said gently. "I was teasing."

"OH." Her wings sagged with relief as she sighed. "You really throw Bots off when you tease." She said, shaking her head.

"I know." Prowl said unrepentantly. "That is why I do it occasionally."

Auri giggled softly.

"Your candy cube is up on that shelf." Prowl told her, mentally giving himself a gentle chiding for teasing her.

"Oh…" Auri's disappointment was obvious. "Who put it up so high?" She sounded rather bothered. She slipped off the berth and went over to the counter and looked up at the shelf.

"I think Prime may have put it up there." Prowl said, "He came back last night."

"It's very high up." Auri said, tilting her head back to look at it. "I'm going to try and retrieve it, though." She said after a moment.

"How…?" Prowl asked, watching her.

"I'll have to climb a little." She replied. She tried to get up onto the counter and found that it was just a bit too tall. "Gnnnnh! Aw…." She tried again.

Prowl climbed off his berth. "Stop that before you slip and fall. I can give you a leg up."

"Would Ratchet allow that?" Auri paused her attempts to ask.

"No. But I shall not endanger either of us, so there is no reason for me not to."

"Well… okay…"

Prowl dropped down on one knee by the counter, "Step up," he said.

Auri grinned as she stepped up onto his leg. "I'm using Prime's Second-in-Command as a step stool."

"He offered." Prowl said, giving her foot an upward shove with his hand as she climbed onto the counter. "Be careful." He warned as she stood up.

"I will." She sidestepped carefully and reached up towards the shelf that held her candy cube. "Aw!"

Prowl looked up. She was just short enough that she couldn't quite reach it. She stood up on tip-toes.

"Be careful." Prowl told her.

She grunted, intent on reaching her candy. "I… will…." She picked one foot up.

"Ah, no. Stop now. Ratchet and Ironhide will kill me if you fall."

"But,"

"That was an order." Prowl told her.

She sighed and put both feet flat on the counter. She really, really wanted her candy cube, though. She looked up at them and sighed again.

"Maybe I can poke it with something." She said. Prowl handed her one of Ratchet's tools. She looked down, surprised at this immediate response. Prowl smiled up at her.

"I was thinking what you were thinking." He said.

Auri stretched up again and angled the wrench so that she could possibly slide the cube over to the edge.

"Ngh! It's too short, too."

"Stand still there." Prowl told her, "I shall see what else we can appropriate."

Auri chuckled and stood still.

"I could climb the shelves." Auri said after watching Prowl poke through a number of useless things.

"Ratchet and Ironhide, remember? We should wait."

"They won't be back for a long time." Auri said.

Prowl came back.

"Can _you_ climb up here?" Auri asked speculatively. "You are taller than I am."

"I am not wholly certain that it would be advisable for me to be climbing onto counters and standing on them…" he said. Then he considered it, though. He cocked his head and did a couple calculations. It would hold his weight. He would be in danger of becoming imbalanced due to the narrow space, though. He had an idea, however.

He opened one of the doors below the counter and used the shelf within as a step. He got onto the counter and sat, closing the door with his foot.

"I think you may be too broad to stand up here, actually." Auri said, frowning down at him.

"Yes, for once." Prowl said, pleased at being called 'broad.' He scooted over, and Auri scooted out of his way. "I have come to be a step stool again… Step up." He was directly under the cube of candy.

Auri stepped onto his lap, and he put his hands up to catch her only if necessary.

"Oh, almost... unh. Can I put my knee on your good shoulder?"

"Um…" Ratchet was going to kill him anyway just for climbing on the counter. "Yes."

Auri put a knee on his shoulder, and he put a hand on her foot to stabilize her as she pulled herself up by the shelf.

"Got it!" She said triumphantly a second later. "Um… here," she blindly held it down for him to take and nearly smacked him in the face with it.

He took it and set it aside.

"Be careful…" he told her as he felt her shift positions.

"That's… the third time you've said that." She started to lower herself from Prowl's shoulder.

"Well, I mean it. We could get hurt, and/or we could get in trouble."

"It's gone smoothly so far, though, Prowl." She assured him, but then something at the door caught the corner of her optic, startling her. She involuntarily gave a little start, and it was enough to make her slip from her precarious perch on Prowl's shoulder.

Down she went, into Prowl's lap, and he caught her, but her momentum was great enough that they both went tumbling off the counter. Auri squealed in fright, and Prowl yelped in dismay.

There was a heavy clatter as they hit the floor.

"Oh!"

"Ow…"

"Are you okay, Prowl?" Auri's voice came from beside him.

"Yes." Prowl grunted, feeling some discomfort throughout his body. He sat up and turned to find Auri on her back. He was glad he'd not fallen on her, as little as she was. "Are _you_ okay?" he asked, looking over her anxiously.

She looked a bit shaken, but she nodded. "I'm not getting any medical alerts from my system." She said, "I think I might be a little sore here and there, but nothing is broken or damaged."

Prowl held out his hands to help her sit up. She looked up past him. "Hi, Ironhide."

Prowl chuckled. "Now, Auri, that is not funny." He said, taking her hands and gently pulling her up to sit.

"Then why did you chuckle?" Ironhide asked.

"IRONHIDE!" Prowl yelled, dropping Auri's hands and jumping up faster than anyone would have imagined that he could have at that point.

Ironhide calmly looked down at the monochromatic door-winger before him.

Prowl opened his mouth but no words came out. He didn't even know what he could say. He looked sideways and shut his mouth.

"What were you doing?" Ironhide asked. He wasn't meaning to sound stern, but it came out that way because he was trying not to laugh at how guilty Prowl looked.

Prowl looked sideways the other direction. "Getting Auri's candy down for her…?"

"You both could have gotten hurt." Ironhide said, simply playing to be stern because he couldn't resist teasing Prowl.

Prowl looked sideways again. "W… we took that into account… sort of…"

"Sort of? And you ignored that possibilities?"

"Um…" Another sideways look. "The odds _were_ in our favor." He said then winced ever so slightly.

Ironhide looked at him hard. It was tough not to laugh.

"It was my fault." Auri said, jumping up to come wrap her arms protectively around Prowl's arm. "I really, really, really wanted it down. He wasn't too keen on the idea."

"He allowed it, though." Ironhide managed to say. These guilty little bots were almost too much.

"I… I plead insanity. I'm on meds." Prowl said suddenly.

Ironhide narrowed his optics to keep from smiling and bursting out with laughter at this. "I know your behavior has been slightly affected by the antivirus, but in no way do I think it would impair your judgment."

"Well… maybe it _has_." Prowl said almost eagerly.

Again Ironhide had to repress the urge to laugh. How on earth was he supposed to be stern with Prowl if the little bot kept being so comical?

"Look. You shouldn't have allowed Auri to climb up on the counter."

"But, I didn't! I gave her a boost." Maybe if he acted insane enough Ironhide would let him off. Or if he could make Ironhide laugh… that work probably work, too.

"Let's keep it simple." Ironhide said levelly. "You knew better, but you went and did it anyway. You should not have."

"Please don't punish him, please?" Auri asked in a very spark-softening tone as she hugged Prowl's arm a little tighter.

Ironhide couldn't answer that right away.

"My wrist hurts." Prowl said, suddenly realizing that it was throbbing a little.

Ironhide reached out and took his hand carefully and ran a scanning finger over the wrist. "You must have landed on it…" His mock-sternness was replaced with genuine concern.

"Oww… where's First Aid?"

"He's standing in the doorway with Jolt and Flareup." Ironhide turned to them, "Run along, you bots. I've got this taken care of."

The threesome scattered obediently.

Ironhide led Prowl over to a low berth and sat him on it. Auri followed close behind and sat beside him. Ironhide quietly repaired Prowl's wrist and put a light brace on it.

"If you keep getting injured again and again," Ironhide said, looking him over, "You will never get out of Med-Bay." This he didn't have to fake being stern about.

"Understood, sir." Prowl said quietly. He was starting to feel aches in his knees where he'd landed on them, too. He glanced down. They were visibly scuffed. Ironhide noted it, too, and brought over some soothing cream.

"We really didn't mean any harm," Auri coaxed as Ironhide gave the cream to Prowl, "Really, really we didn't." Evidently she was still worried about getting punished.

Ironhide ducked his head so that she couldn't see his optics sparkling in amusement. These little Bots were always so well behaved that they thought this little escapade was naughty! He wanted to laugh a deep delighted laugh at having such precious and comical little door-wingers in his life.

"Do you little Bots really think you are due punishment?" he asked, curious to see what they would come up with.

Prowl paused from rubbing his knees. He and Auri glanced at each other. They hadn't really considered this. They'd naturally assumed so.

"I am not a little Bot, Ironhide." Prowl said. Sidetracking might work.

"Stand up." Ironhide told him. He put aside the cream and stood, standing very straight in order to reach his full height.

Ironhide measured Prowl's height against himself with his hand. "See?" Ironhide said. Prowl didn't even make it past his shoulder. "You are a little Bot. Now sit."

"I am not." Prowl said stubbornly, intending to lure Ironhide away the candy-retrieving escapade.

"No back talk." Ironhide said, half-smiling because he knew what Prowl was trying to do. "Sit on your behind before I decided to smack it."

Prowl sat and gave him a little glare.

"So," Ironhide said. "Do you little Bots really think you are due punishment?" he asked again as Prowl resumed his cream application.

"Well…" Auri thought she would give it a try this time, "Like you said… we knew better, but we did it anyway. And we shouldn't have. I guess you would call that naughty… but… but… we got bruised up from our fall, wouldn't that be enough?" she asked, widening her optics coaxingly.

Ironhide crooked a finger over his mouth and managed to look like Bot who was seriously considering something weighty.

"In other words," Prowl said, uncomfortable with the delay, "The answer is 'yes,' but we think we have already had it. Does that make sense…?" He asked earnestly.

Ironhide couldn't do this anymore. A chuckle got past his finger, and then all the laughter that he'd held back came dashing forward.

Auri and Prowl shared confused looks as Ironhide sat down on the berth across from them to laugh. He laughed and chuckled.

"Was what I said funny?" Prowl asked Auri.

She shook her head. "It didn't seem funny to me…" She gave Ironhide a doubtful look.

Ironhide quit laughing after a bit and just chuckled at the two one more time. "Really, Prowl."

"Ah… yes?" Prowl wasn't sure what he was supposed to do here. He finished with the cream and set the container aside.

"You two…" Ironhide said, "If risking your door-wings by climbing onto a cabinet is the naughtiest thing either of you ever do…" he trailed off to chuckle again.

"In other words," Prowl said to Auri,

"We were not being as bad as we thought we were." Auri supplied.

"Exactly." Ironhide said. "And Auri did have her point about falling."

"Yeah!" Auri said with gusto. She was happy now that she realized that they weren't in trouble. She giggled as she realized that they never had been in trouble with Ironhide all along.

"You silly little Bots." Ironhide said, pulling Auri over and hugging her. "I love you."

Auri smiled at him. "We love you, too, Ironhide."

"Sometimes…" Prowl said, "When you are not giving us 'little Bots' a hard time."

"I don't give you a hard time that often." Ironhide told him.

Prowl shook his head slightly. "No, you do not. You are good to me."

Auri frowned. "I just thought of Ratchet."

"Ooh. He is not going to let us off with just a hearty laughing at." Prowl said, frowning.

Auri shook her head.

"I have the solution." Ironhide said. "Prowl, get up."

Prowl looked askance at him but rose as bidden. Ironhide gave him a sound smack across the backside then motioned for him to sit again.

"Auri,"

Auri raised an optic ridge but approached her guardian. He bit back a smile and gave her a light swat across the rump, not hurting her at all.

"There," he said, leaning against the berth opposite the little Bots' as Auri sat beside Prowl. "I think we can make that satisfy the dear medic."

"That was a little severe." Prowl said. Auri stuffed her hands against her mouth to keep from laughing.

Ironhide chuckled. He liked it when Prowl joked. He missed those old days when Prowl was his ward and not so serious. He stepped over and hugged Prowl, knowing that for once he could without getting pushed away. Prowl hugged him in return, resting his head against his former guardian.

"I have enjoyed these times." Prowl said softly once Ironhide had let him go and sat beside him.

"We all have." Ironhide said deeply.

"Can't they last?" Auri asked.

Prowl put his arms around the little femme beside him and put his head against hers. "The antivirus is messing with my system, Auri." He told her. "It cannot stay, and these times cannot last. We will still have the memories, though. And I will always be your friend."

"I will miss the hugs." Auri said.

"I cannot promise anything," Prowl murmured, "But I will try to still hug you."

Auri hugged him more tightly, and Ironhide hugged them both.

He wanted to say, "You two are precious little Bots," but something seemed to be choked up in his vocal processor. He just hugged them some more.

Ratchet came in some five or ten minutes later and found the Ironhide sitting across from the little bots and grinning about something he'd said that was making them laugh.

Ironhide saw Ratchet and grinned at him. "Hi, Ratch." He greeted.

"Hello." He replied. The little bots subdued their laughter, and Auri grinned at him while Prowl half-smiled. "Behaving yourselves?" He asked.

"What, with Ironhide around?" Prowl asked, "Seriously, Ratchet."

Ratchet chuckled. A moment later, though, the smile was gone from his face. "Who messed with my tools?" he demanded, turning to the most obvious culprits.

"Prowl and Auri pulled a little stunt to get her candy cube down from that high shelf." Ironhide said, motioning to the shelf. "They didn't break anything."

"They could have! What if they had fallen?"

"We did fall." Auri said.

"Aigh! Little Bots!"

"Calm down, Ratchet, calm down." Ironhide said.

"Calm down?" Ratchet objected. "Don't you go telling me to calm down! They-!"

"Ratchet! I smacked them both, and they're not going to do it again." Ironhide said.

Ratchet shut his mouth and looked stern. "They had better not." He said, looking pointedly at Prowl.

"No more climbing on counters, I promise." Prowl said earnestly.

Ratchet raised an optic ridge. "How hard did you smack him, Ironhide?" he asked suspiciously. A soundly-smacked Prowl didn't respond like that.

"What's that got to do with anything?" Ironhide argued.

"I thought so." Ratchet said. "It was a token smack."

"The case is closed." Prowl said, sounding more like the Second-in-Command. "Closed, decided, finished, not up for further discussion. And you are both upsetting Auri, so stop it now before I call Chromia in to scrap you both. Auri has had a long and rough day and does not need to deal with you two bickering about something that was no big deal that happened a good half-hour ago that cannot be changed."

Both tall bots were quiet as they looked at Prowl and Auri. They knew Prowl was right.

"Case closed." Ratchet said gently. "Just please stop doing things that get yourself hurt, Prowl."

"I will give it my best." Prowl said. Then he looked to Ironhide, expecting to receive words similar to Ratchet's. Instead, though, he found the guardian frowning softly down at Auri with concern on his face.

"You had a bad day?" Ironhide asked.

Auri nodded and looked like she might cry. "Very bad." She said, trying to not break down.

"Were there more problems like the one that came up yesterday?" Auri had told him what the mechanic had said.

"Worse…" Auri said in a little voice as she put her head against Prowl's shoulder.

Ironhide went over and sat beside her. "Oh, My Little One…" he sighed as he put his arm around her.

**::**Hey, mech. I'm done trolling now; where are you?:: Chromia asked him over their intercom.

::Med-Bay with Prowl. Hold just a moment, please.::

::Holding's not much without you.:: she teased, but he knew she'd wait.

"Chromia's done with patrol, Auri." Ironhide said, "How about we go home, and you can tell us about it all?"

"Okay." Auri said, nodding her head against Prowl's shoulder. "Good night, Prowl." She said, hugging him again.

"Good night. May you enjoy pleasant recharge and have a better day tomorrow." He told her.

She smiled at him as Ironhide gently gathered her into his arms. "You too." She told him. "Good night, Ratchet."

Ratchet told her good night with a fond smile, and then Ironhide carried her home.

Once they were back at their quarters, her guardians sat and listened to her recount the mishaps of the day with Amy Sora. Ironhide listened with a serious expression on his face, and his optics darkened with displeasure from time to time. Chromia got mad inwardly, and her optics snapped angrily as she held back sharp words. Her little femme-ling was tired, though, and didn't need to hear an angry rant, so she kept quiet.

When Auri was ready for bed, Chromia tenderly kissed her good night and tucked her in gently. "I love you, my Auri." She whispered. "It will all work out." She assured her before leaving.

Ironhide planted another kiss on Auri's helm and told her good night as well. Then he braced himself and followed Chromia to their bedroom.

As soon as he was in and the door was closed, Chromia whirled around and smacked the sound-proofing device that hung on the wall. It created a sound-proof force-field on the surface of the walls and roof. It was good for privacy. Or fights. Or rants.

"The woman is a glitch!" Chromia yelled, not longer containing her fury.

Ironhide sat on the corner of the berth and listened and nodded as he watched his femme pace angrily as she delivered her tirade. She yelled and stomped and gestured, and Ironhide let her vent.

After a while she stopped and stood there before him, all hot and gusting, her optics still snapping but more tired. But the femme-guardian had more to say.

"And glitchette better be glad that she's a slagging squishy and not a Cybertronian femme or I would thrash her _**so**_ badly that she'd think thirty times before she _**ever**_ said or did _**ANYTHING**_ _**again**_."

Then her shoulders sagged, and she stumbled over to Ironhide. He rose and took her in his arms, gently cuddling her against his body.

He rubbed her back gently as she cried against his shoulder. They stood this way for some time before Ironhide stirred. His Chromia was tired, he knew. He kissed her head tenderly then picked her up. "Come lie down, my love." He whispered. He remotely deactivated the sound barrier as he lay Chromia down on their berth. Then he lay down beside her and wrapped his arms around her once more to comfort her. Her tears eventually stopped, and then she gave him a little snuggle before slipping into recharge. She was glad she had her mech.

Amy Sora had no one to cry against, though. The tired liaison crawled miserably into her bed two hours early with her day clothes on, too miserable to deal with anything else. The day had been horrible, and she felt guilty for getting cross with poor little Auri because of everything else. It had all been too much, though. And the toaster was gone. She had no idea where he'd gone, and she didn't want to know either. And that wasn't the only problem.

Her personal laptop seemed to be fine, but the company laptop had a virus on it. She could get to her files and everything, and it basically worked normally, but she couldn't type a single thing on it except for passwords. Anything else she tried to type didn't come out right. Certain letters were replaced with numbers while other letters simply got swapped. It was a mess! And some had hacked her facebook account and posted pictures of her doing things that she'd never done and intended never to do. She knew that had to be photoshopped, but they looked absolutely genuine. And her facebook account had been frozen, so she couldn't change anything or delete or add anything to it. She could be ruined.

She buried her face in her pillow and cried for half an hour before falling asleep. Sometime later, though, she awoke to a strange sound. She stared in the dark and listened carefully. Was it the toaster? After a second of feeling paranoid, she heard the sound again and realized that it was coming from outside.

She slipped out of bed and crept to the window. She nudged the curtain back with her finger and peeked out. Ultra Magnus was almost across from her house, slowly walking down the road and looking watchful.

His optics swept the area, and then he seemed to pause as they came to her house.

He hesitated and then crossed the road, heading straight for her. His optics made contact with her one peeking eye as he came near. She blinked and lowered her head before pushing the curtain back and opening the window.

"Is everything alright?" He whispered.

"I'm still dealing with jet-lag, and I heard something big walking in the street." She whispered back.

A trace of a smile touched his face. "I'm on patrol." He explained.

She half-smiled. "Sounds nice."

"Patrol?" he asked.

"Walking slowly through quiet streets on a balmy night is what I mean, I guess." She said softly.

"You could do that if you wanted to." He said.

"Not like you could." She said with half laugh. "You are how tall, and I'm 5'5". I wouldn't be comfortable."

The metal face before her smiled softly and then seemed to calculate something. Ultra Magnus brought a hand up to the window. "I pass by here a couple times. Would you like to join me for a few blocks?"

Amy chuckled softly and shook her head. "No thank-you." She said softly. Really, the thought of a giant metal warrior inviting her to go walking around at night with him was beyond preposterous.

He tapped the side of the house lightly with his finger. "Come on." He said, "Just put on your shoes and climb out here. It will beat tossing and turning." He told her firmly.

She looked at him questioningly. He nodded slightly. He meant it.

"Alright." She said softly. Who could say 'no' to a metal commander anyway? She slipped away from the window and got a pair of comfortable boots with low heels. She tugged them on and kicked first one foot and then the other so that the hems of her slacks fell over the tops neatly. Then she went back to the window where Ultra Magnus was waiting.

She gave him a questioning look, but he put his hand up to the window without hesitating. She climbed out the window carefully and into his hand.

"Would you like to sit on my shoulder instead of walking?" he asked.

"Do I look like a parakeet?" she asked, daring to tease. She was reward by a gentle chuckle.

"I'll try not to ruffle any feathers." He said, straightening up and lifting her to his shoulder. She caught her breath at how high up she was. Then she carefully climbed onto his shoulder, holding tightly to the complex network of armoring that covered it. After a couple moments, she found that she felt rather secure up there once she got situated.

"Alright?" he asked.

She nodded. "Once I start breathing again."

"You will be fine." He assured her.

She looked down at her right hand and sincerely hoped so, not just for the night but for the whole trip. She tightened her grip on his armor when he took a step, but he walked slowly and steadily, and she soon found herself starting to feel less frightened.

"Things haven't going smoothly for you, have they." He said, keeping his voice quiet in the night.

"No… indeed not." Amy said softly.

There was a click and a beam of light shone from his hand. He pointed it down an alley and then turned it off and moved on.

"You can talk to us." He said. "You can admit mistakes or weaknesses. We are willing to work with you as long as you are willing to work with us."

She sighed, wishing that seemed truer.

"What was the deal with facebook and sleeping in this morning?" he asked quietly after waiting for her to say something.

She looked down, feeling trapped. "I wasn't playing games on it. I have a couple times in the past but never for long and never when I've had previous commitments. I found this evening that it had been hacked. Photos were added, too… bad photos. But it's frozen, and I can't do anything about it."

Ultra Magnus darted the woman a concerned look as he heard a catch in her voice. '_Don't cry, please, don't._' he thought.

"We Cybertronians are pretty good at technology and hacking," he said gently, "I am sure someone of us could fix that for you."

"You sure?" She asked, fighting tears.

"I am sure." He said.

She felt calmer now. "Thank-you."

"You are welcome." He said. He shone his light down another alley. "What else is wrong?"

She halfway laughed despite herself. Then she sighed. "My car. It keeps having problems. Auri had it taken to the mechanic and we got it back, but it still glitches out on me."

Ultra Magnus chuckled softly then stopped abruptly as she stiffened. "No, I'm sorry." He said quickly, "I was not laughing at your troubles. I was amused at how quickly you've picked up our slang. Please go on. I did not mean to be unkind."

She sighed. "It's alright. That's basically all I had to say about the car."

"Very well. I'll have it checked again. You said that that was all you had to say about the car, are there other things?"

She told him about the toaster, and he frowned.

"That sounds like a prank." He said. "There are no sentient or drone toasters on this Base whatsoever. If you find it, ….if… bring it to me and I'll inspect it for tampering." He checked another alley then looked over at her again. "Anything else?"

"My work computer has a virus."

"Viruses are easy for us to handle." He said with a nod. "Even young Auri could remove one without much struggle."

"I was rather cross with her more than once. I'm not even sure she wants to see me in the morning." She said sadly. Out of the corner of her eye, Amy saw the corner up Ultra Magnus's mouth turn up.

"Auri is a forgiving little bot, Miss Sora." The mech said. "She might be a little hesitant to approach you, but if you are kind and encouraging, she will come right back to you. I know from experience."

He walked in silence for a block, and Amy thought things over.

"You have to be open, though." Ultra Magnus said. "Be honest. Admit mistakes. Tell her what is going on. If you are having a horrible day, don't be nasty; just tell her, 'It's not your fault, but I'm having a horrible day.' And ask for some time to calm down if you are not feeling able to talk about it. She does this for herself from time to time; she'll understand that you need it, too. Understand?"

Amy nodded with a half-smile. "Understood." She said.

"And if you need some help, call me, and I will do my best to help you out."

"Alright. Thank-you."

He nodded. "We can put my direct contact into your phone when we get back."

"Sounds good."

He nodded again.

Then he asked how the rest of her work was going. She told him about it and how most of yesterday had been messed up by her being two hours late. He listened and nodded from time to time, occasionally smiling when it was appropriate or frowning when a frown was fitting. Amy loved it when he chuckled. There was something wonderful about the chuckle of a huge metallic being.

Amy suddenly realized that he was standing by her house. He chuckled softly at her surprise.

"Time went swiftly, did it not?" he said.

She nodded.

He put his hand up for her climb into, and then he lowered it to the window for her to climb back into the house.

"Thank-you." She said, looking out at him with smile. "That was really nice."

"You are welcome. I hope the talk was helpful."

"It was." She said with a sigh. All the tension was gone.

"Do you have your phone handy?" he asked.

She nodded and went to get it. It wasn't in her purse, though. She searched another bag. She searched her bed and the drawers in the dresser and desk.

She scowled and went back to the window. "I can't find it." She said, still frowning.

"Tell me the number, and I will call it." He directed.

She recited the number then watched as his optics dimmed a little as he focused on something else. She waited. And waited. He frowned ever so slightly.

"It is clearly not in your house or in your car." He said after a moment. "Just a moment." He said, and then his optics dimmed again. He called the phone again and this time traced the call. "I found it." He said. "It is rather far from here. I will retrieve it for you once my patrol is done and bring it to you."

"Oh… kay. Thank-you." She said, smiling gratefully but tiredly up at him.

"Will you need it before morning?"

She shook her head.

"Get some sleep then, Miss Sora. I will bring your phone to you in the morning."

She murmured her thanks again and then went and fell into bed as he walked on down the street. She drowsily kicked off her boots, and a faint smile touched her lips. The nice Autobot warrior was going to help her out of her troubles.

* * *

Yeah... that was fluffy there with Magnus and Amy, but it was just friendship, this not a pairing.

:) Don't forget to check facebook and deviantArt and the TFP story. ;)


	69. Chapter 69, Phone, Ticket, and Practice

Some how my chapter keep getting longer and longer each time I post...! I guess you all probably don't mind, though. :)

* * *

Chapter 69

**Phone, Ticket, and Practice**

Ultra Magnus headed out to retrieve Agent Sora's phone as soon as he got off his shift. He'd traced the device out to somewhere near the challenge course; however, as he came closer to its location, he realized that it was in an area where no human was allowed without special clearance. Amy Sora, he knew, had no such clearance. He frowned inwardly. Auri knew better than to bring someone out here without clearance. Someone was breaking rules. Magnus frowned. Questions were going to be asked.

Transforming, he walked the rest of the way, carefully scanning the area as he went to find the phone's precise location. Then he found it in the grass near the edge of an overlook. Crouching down, he picked up the device carefully between two fingers. It shouldn't have been out here. Agent Sora shouldn't have been out there.

He slipped the thing into subspace after inserting his contact information. Then he went to his quarters to recharge. The questions would wait until morning.

OoOoOoOoOoOoO

Amy woke up to a heavy thud. The house was falling down, she knew it. Then she realized that everything was fine. It was very early morning, too early to be having heart-attacks over strange noises. The toaster- No, Ultra Magnus had said it had to be a prank.

"Agent?" A deep voice asked outside her house.

She jumped out of bed and stumbled over to the window. There was Ultra Magnus just outside. She composed herself a little and pushed open the window. "Yes." Her voice was still a little shaky from the scare. "Could you not do that again, please?" she asked.

"I apologize." He said, ducking his head a little. "I did not mean to frighten you."

Man, that robot was disarming. Amy sighed and smiled. "It's alright." She said as he racing heart began to return to normal. "Did you find my phone?"

He nodded. "I found it in a restricted area, Agent Sora. I asked Auri, and she said that she had never taken you anywhere near it and that she had not been in the area either."

"Where?" Amy asked uncertainly. This sounded bad.

"At the second overlook of the challenge course." He said, watching her frown deepen.

"I was never anywhere near there." Amy said.

"How would your phone have gotten out there then?"

"Someone must have taken it and dropped it there." Amy said with misgivings.

"Why?" The Bot asked.

"I… I don't why. To make me look bad or something?" She guessed, and the mech gave her a severely disapproving look that made her want to run and hide. "I don't know much about you robots!" she protested. "I didn't go out there, though!"

"Let me tell you this, Agent." Magnus said sternly. "Some members of our faction may pull pranks to annoy humans, but they do not try to make them look bad. Honor is important to us. We don't go messing with others' honor. That is shameful in our optics."

"I didn't know that." Amy said softly. This was the last robot she wanted mad at her, so she spoke gently. "I will not try to say that again."

"Very well." He said, and it amazed her how nicely he responded to her tone.

"Perhaps, if you didn't mind, could we just put this aside for now and work on other things?" she asked.

Ultra Magnus did mind, but Sora seemed earnest, and he wasn't sure that he wanted to upset things for Auri later on. He nodded. "Where is your company laptop?" he asked.

"I'll get it." She said. She hurried downstairs and grabbed the laptop and saw the toaster reclining cheerfully on the sofa. She gave the thing a suspicious look then grabbed it, too, and went back upstairs.

"I found the toaster, too." She said, holding it out first, eager to be done with it.

She saw a slight look of disapproval on Magnus's face, but the bot said nothing and took the toaster. She waited as he ran a blue-gray beam of light through it. She wondered about the disapproving look while she waited. Eventually, though, she decided that it must have been because she was doing something out of order.

"There is nothing abnormal about this toaster." The mech finally said, returning it to her. _Nothing abnormal?_ She felt irked, for there had definitely been something odd going on. "Laptop?" he asked.

She decided she wouldn't argue about the toaster and handed him the laptop.

He took it and placed it in the palm of one hand and opened it with the edge of his finger. Then he placed two of his fingers on the edges where the USB docks were. The laptop was facing away from Amy, but she could tell from the different light reflecting off Magnus's chrome that the screens were changing.

She glanced back up to his face. It had changed as well. It had a closed look now, a hard look. She felt a lump grow in her throat, and her stomach tightened little.

After a while, his optics shifted to her. "There is nothing wrong with either your facebook or your laptop, Agent Sora." His tone was hard to read, but it did have a bit of a chilling undertone.

Amy clenched her hands behind the wall. "What do you think happened then?" she asked, managing to sound calm and uncertain.

A metal optic-ridge arched up. "What do _you_ think happened?" the Bot asked.

Amy pursed her lips. She wanted to know what he thought. She knew he wouldn't like what she thought. "Is it Cybertronian custom to answer questions with redirecting questions?" she asked after a moment.

"Yes." He said, scarcely missing a beat, "Sometimes it is."

"Well, I would appreciate it if you would respect my customs for just a minute and answer my question with a statement."

The optics narrowed slightly. "Very well. I think you lied and fabricated this story in order to cover up a short-coming, error, misbehavior, or such."

That hurt. Amy clenched her fists tightly to keep from showing that she was hurt, though. She hadn't realized how blunt he would be.

"I didn't." she managed to say, but her throat felt tight.

"What do you think happened then?" The commander challenged quietly.

"I think someone is trying to discredit me." She said.

"Why?" he asked without hesitation.

She bit her lip. She couldn't see why a human would try to discredit her, and the bot probably wouldn't either. She was stuck, she knew, for he'd already said that bots wouldn't try to ruin her honor. It would be insulting to say so, and she really didn't want to do that.

"I don't know why." She said.

"Why did you say it, then?"

"Because there was definitely a problem with them earlier. Everything I told you was the absolute truth! And now things look fine, so I think someone is messing with them to make me look bad!"

She was almost earnest enough to convince him. But logic was more earnest. Bots did not try to ruin others' honor. Humans did fight with each other, but the humans on this base wished for peace and would not try to cause problems. Furthermore, there were only a few humans on the base who could actually cause the "problems" that Agent Sora had described. These were the techies. And the techies never tried to hurt anybody. They tended to be socially awkward around humans and avoided most interactions with them. They loved the Bots, though. They probably didn't even know that Sora existed.

Amy bit he lip again. This mech had been too quiet for too long.

"You don't believe me?" she asked.

"I do not." He said.

"You believed me last night." She said softly, sadly.

"I did." He said. "I believed that these problems you spoke of existed, and now that I look, I find that they do not exist. Therefore, what you said were lies."

"They weren't!" she cried hopelessly.

He gave her a cold look. "Enough." He said. "Go have your coffee and breakfast. Auri will be prompt; she deserves no less from you. You may be technologically behind, but you know what is expected of you regarding simple manners."

Amy felt like she'd been slapped, but she held back her tears until he'd risen and walked away. Then she closed the window and started to cry. Heartless robot! Cold logic! She stumbled off to her shower and cursed the cold water.

The water was inclined to have poor pressure and run slowly this morning, too, on top of being cold. It took a while, but she finally got the shampoo and conditioner out. Once again, she found herself in too much of a rush to use the hairdryer.

She hastened downstairs after dressing, got a bagel from the fridge and then realized that she'd left the toaster on the floor upstairs. After glancing at the stairs, she decided a cold bagel wouldn't be very bad.

It wasn't. It was just chewy.

Her phone rang while she was eating. Mariah's name was on the caller-ID. She grabbed the phone off the counter and hit "talk."

"M'riah!" that old rule about not talking with one's mouth full was forgotten in her eagerness to hear a friendly voice.

"Hi, Amy!" Mariah's voice greeted her huskily. Clearly she was still sick. "I tried calling last night but couldn't get an answer; are you alright?"

"I'm fine." Amy said, "Well… physically, anyway. I'm just a little more than a little mad about something. First my car, then my computer, and my facebook, and the toaster have had some ….issues with working right. When anyone checks on them, though, they show up completely fine. I told a bot that I thought someone was messing with them to try to make me look bad, and I think he was insulted. Bots value honor, he said, and they wouldn't mess with others' honor. And humans wouldn't do this sort of thing on this base either. He told me he thought I was lying to hide some misbehavior."

She heard Mariah take a sharp breath in.

"Oh, Amy…" Mariah said softly a moment later. "I don't even know what to say…"

"It's alright. You should probably say bye." Amy told her reluctantly, "I need to go, especially since I got a harsh word about being on time since I was late yesterday."

"Hang in there." Mariah said softly. "I'll talk to you later."

"Alright. Thank-you. Bye."

"Bye."

Amy finished up breakfast, did her makeup, and then made sure that she had _all _her things before stepping out the door. She sighed a sigh of relief when she saw that Auri was just now approaching on foot. She wasn't going to be late this time.

"Hello." Auri greeted her in a neutral tone; there was no welcome, but there was no hostility either.

"Good morning." Amy said, trying to smile up at her. "I am really sorry that yesterday went so badly."

"Everybody has bad days from time to time." Auri said guardedly. "It is alright."

"Today can be better." Amy said with more confidence than she felt.

Auri nodded but made no gesture of friendship.

Amy bit her lip.

"Is there something you would like to talk about before we go?" Amy asked after some hesitation.

Auri shifted a little. "We could discuss your phone." She said.

'_We could just shoot me_.' Amy thought. "Auri…" She said, "I have no idea how my phone got out there. You know you never went out there and never took me out there, and I swear I never went out there."

Auri sort of shrugged a little and then stepped closer and crouched down. "Did you loan your phone to anybody?" she asked, sounding like she preferred to help rather than condemn.

Amy shook her head. "No. I didn't. I don't do that." She said as her hopes perked up a tiny bit. Maybe Magnus had decided that she was a flat out liar, but Auri seemed open to finding some other answer.

"Were you near anybody who could have taken it?" was the next question.

"I wasn't." Amy said. "I was basically just around you Bots all day."

"Let me see it." Auri said. "There could be a signature trace left on it."

Amy produced the phone and held it out. Auri didn't touch it, but she ran a scan on it. Amy felt it tingle ever so slightly.

"There's me, of course, since we were together a lot." Auri said, "Mm, Ultra Magnus, very strong." She added after a couple more seconds. "That's because he was the one who brought it to you. And there's a slight trace of Wheeljack, whom you showed it to yesterday. He touched it, I think."

"He did." Amy said, remembering her anxiety. She wondered if Ultra Magnus could be setting her up. He was in the perfect position to do so.

"Well, that's all. Hum…" Auri carefully took the phone without asking and began looking it over more carefully. Amy watched, hoping that something would turn up and clear her.

A movement caught her eyes a few moments later. The twins were coming up the street. She felt herself stiffen and grow defensive. She stepped back so that she was a little hidden by the alcove around the door.

"If there was some kind of tracking device…" Auri muttered to herself. Then she looked up and over and saw the twins. "Twins! Good morning!" She called, rising.

They picked up their pace and skated over.

"Hey," Sides said as they stopped a respectful distance away.

"You still mad at us?" Sunny asked.

Auri shook her head adorably. "I was cross with you, but it wasn't your faults. I should be the one asking if you're mad."

"Mad at you, Aurilaze? No way!" The golden twin shook his head vigorously as he and his brother came forward. Auri hugged them both. "We deserved a little crossness coming from you anyway since we blew off movie night." He said apologetically.

"No…! I should always be nice to my brothers, and you did have excuses."

"Well, we're sorry we did." Sides said.

"And we're sorry we've been cross about you and the liaison." Sunny added.

"It… it's okay." Auri said, but she was beginning to think they'd been right about being displeased about a liaison coming.

"We realized it when we didn't have our time together. We were wrong. Can you forgive us for being such rude bots?"

"Why, yes, twins. I always forgive you."

"Okay." They hugged her again. "And we'll be nice to your icky liaison when she shows up."

"A-"

"And we'll make up our missed time." Side added. "Can we make this night movie night for this week?" he asked.

"I can't." Auri said, "Prowl gets very bored in Med-Bay, and I told him I would come visit this evening."

"Eh. Flareup's in Med-Bay. I'm sure she'd be glad to keep him company." Sunny teased, knowing that Flareup has a slight crush on the officer.

Auri gave him a light punch in the side. "That's not funny!" She protested, knowing that the crush wasn't all that slight.

"Watch the paint!" Sunny yelped, rubbing his side.

"Watch this!" Auri said, grinning as she whipped out a small knife and swept it upwards dangerously near Sunny's side.

"WHOA-AIGH!" Sunny yelled rather shrilly as he jumped away. His brother grinned in delight. "Auri! No." Sunny tried to take the knife away. Auri turned, evading him, and flipped the knife away into subspace. Then she turned back to grin at him.

He shook his head firmly. "Auri. We joke around, but knifes are not for that. Ironhide taught you about safety." He told her reprovingly.

"Yes, he did." Auri said mischievously, "But Prowl taught me about being scary."

Sunny chuckled nervously. "Uh… Um..." He looked at his brother. "Prowl?"

"Yes." Auri said matter-of-factly. "Prowl taught me to be safe with it, though." She added earnestly when the twins didn't respond.

"I would hope he would have." Sunny said, still rather serious. Then he lightened. "Anyway, back to our earlier subject. When would you like to do movie night?"

"I'm not sure yet." She said. "I have a present commitment with Agent Sora, though, so we'll have to talk about it later." She explained, motioning to Amy.

"Oo." The twins laid optics on Amy as if they'd not seen her before. "Well, good morning, Agent."

"G-good morning." She said, rather stunned by the jovial tone in which she was suddenly addressed. Well, they _had_ said that they would be nice to her.

"Of course," Sides said to Auri. "Commitments must be held."

"Can we decide over lunch then?" Sunny asked.

"Yes." Auri said.

"Alright then!" Then twins both hugged her, "We'll see you at lunch."

"I require your assistance before then." Auri told them, detaining them.

"Oh? What assistance does our sister need?" Sides asked.

Auri held up the phone.

"It's called a phone," Sunny began. Auri giggled.

"Silly mechs." She said. "Ultra Magnus found it out by the challenge course, but Amy never went out there. I was wondering if you knew of a way that we could figure out how it got there."

"Oh." The twins looked thoughtful. Then Sunny sat down. "Let me see it." He said.

Auri handed it over. Sides sat, and Auri leaned on his shoulder.

"Well, you've handled this phone, and so has Wheeljack, and so has Ultra Magnus." Sunny said after a scan. "Magnus has clearly handled it a whole lot. Humn…" he said, fiddling with it. "It's got a tracking device in it. We can just…" he stuck his finger on it a different way. "YOW!" he yelled, dropping the phone as a spark flew up. Sides jumped, jolting Auri.

The three bots and Amy looked horrified. Sunny made an anxious sound and gingerly picked up the phone between two fingers.

"I… I didn't know that would happen…" He said, concern edging his voice. His examined the phone.

He sighed with relief a moment later. "It still works." He said. "Sorry." He said, shooting a glance towards Amy. Then he stopped and actually made optic/eye contact. "I mean, 'I'm sorry. I should have been more careful with your phone.'" He said, sounding sincere.

Amy felt rather surprised again that he'd actually spoken to her as to another sentient being with feelings. Then she realized that he was expecting some kind of reply. "It's alright." She said, giving him a smile.

He smiled back at her, and she found it a rather cute smile. "Do you still want me to try to check the tracker?" he asked her.

She hesitated.

"I can try it." Sides said. "He's not always as proficient as he thinks he is." He explained cockily, grinning at Amy.

She found herself laughing.

"Quiet." Sunny ordered Sides. "I've got it." He grimaced as he put his finger against the phone again. Then his face fell. "I…. I think I did break it." He said slowly, reluctantly.

Sides smacked him upside the head. "I told you I should have-!"

"No. I meant earlier when I tried to access the tracker. The tracker is glitched." He said, his optics on the phone. "I'm sorry…" he said, meeting Amy's eyes and looking like a little sparkling that had broken a prize figurine.

"It's alright." Amy said with mixed feelings.

"I was just trying to help as Auri asked me too." He said anxiously as he fingered the phone.

"Really, it is alright." Amy reassured him, touched by how upset he seemed. "It would have been nice so that I could have cleared myself with Ultra Magnus, but it's alright."

"Ohhhh…! Ultra Magnus grim Grouchus." Sides said. "My condolences. Especially since you're a human."

Sunny shook his head. "He can be nice. 'Can' being the main word there. Mostly he's stern and grim. It's no fun being on his bad side, and he's got a broad one." He said rather regretfully.

Sides gave him a nudge in the shoulder. "Speaking of which, we'd better go and not hold up these femmes." He said. "Agent's going to have a bad reputation for always being late if she doesn't ever show up on time."

"Scrap!" Sunny yelped. "We're no good for you this morning, Agent Sora." He said as he rose. "Maybe later we can make it up, okay?"

"O-okay." Amy stuttered. "Sure." She agreed, half-smiling in bewilderment.

"Take care, Auri." Sunny said, hugging Auri again.

"Yeah, take care." Sides said, hugging both Auri and Sunny.

"Get off me." Sunny said without malice, lightly slapping his brother away with a smile.

"Tag." Sides said. Then he winked at Amy and transformed and drove away.

"See yah!" Sunny called then transformed and drove after his twin. "Side! You know we can't play tag in the city…!"

Auri looked down at her data-pad. "Oh, those twins." She said. "Well, we can either skip some tour and get it later, or we can speed it up and get it all now." She said. "Which would you prefer?"

"Well…" Amy was still in a stated of amazement at the twins' change of heart… spark.

"Actually, you'd better think while I drive." Auri said. She transformed and opened a door for Amy to get in. Amy was glad to hear a warmer note in Auri's tone.

"I think I'd rather we not rush." Amy decided as they went down the road.

"Very well." Auri said agreeably. "That's preferable."

Amy smiled, glad that at least something was going well. "Um," she said a few moments later. "What Sides mean when he said, 'My condolences. Especially since you're a human.'?"

"Oohhh…" Auri said. "Well, Magnus is not overly fond of most humans. I guess Sides meant Magnus probably isn't going to be very sympathetic towards you."

"Ah." Amy said. Then she wondered if Ultra Magnus had set her up. Sunny had said that Ultra Magnus had handled her phone "a whole lot." Well, he'd had to carry it to her, so that would account for it. She frowned as muddled misgivings filled her head. There was the laptop… he could have erased the virus and then said that he'd never found one. What motive would he have in making her look bad, though? If he didn't like humans… well, Amy's job was to help better relations so that more humans could work with the bots, this could be a motive then. He could want to stop her work so that there wouldn't be as many humans to deal with.

Really?

She wasn't sure. She sighed.

By lunch time, Amy was glad that she enjoyed a few minutes in the presence of Auri and the twins that morning. The rest of the morning had gone poorly after the tour. The few bots that they'd planned on talking with had been cool and not very eager. Apparently they'd found out about the "lies," and they were guarded and suspicious. Auri had been unsure about what to do, so she'd just tried to keep things on neutral ground. It hadn't been great.

Auri dropped Amy off at her little house so that they could part for their respective lunches.

Amy sighed and smiled tiredly up at Auri who the femme-ling had transformed. "Thank-you." She told her.

"You're welcome." Auri said, but she sounded rather tired as well.

OoOoOoOoOoOoO

Amy was oddly pleased to find that her car started without any problem. It also drove without any problem, and she took it over to over to a small restaurant and parked it on the street.

Lunch was good, and she felt rather content as she stepped out of the restaurant. Then her heart felt like it nearly stopped.

A tall blue femme was standing with her back to Amy with one foot on the sidewalk and one foot on the road. There was a fire hydrant beside her car. Something told Amy the femme wasn't admiring her job of parking.

She was sure she hadn't parked beside that hydrant, though. She knew that she'd parked farther down the road. She bit her tongue and headed towards her car.

"Ah." Chromia said flatly when Amy came into view.

"Chromia!" Amy said in surprise.

"Yeahhhhh." Chromia said, dragging the word out for some reason. "I'm on the law force."

Amy took another look at the blue femme's demeanor and knew that it would be a bad idea to try to say anything about where she'd actually parked her car.

"What." Chromia said. Amy realized then that Chromia really didn't like her.

Amy shook her head. "I was just looking up."

Chromia raised an optic-ridge and looked down. "I asked you a question."

Amy gritted her teeth as she realized Chromia not only didn't like her, but that she also wanted an altercation. "Well, I was thinking that I had parked farther up the street, but I am not going to argue with you." She said carefully.

Chromia's optics narrowed then refocused on the data-pad that she was writing on.

Amy waited in silence as Chromia worked on writing the ticket. It amazed her that Chromia was so hostile. Hadn't the femme been fairly decent and civil to her the few times that they'd met before?

"The ticket's in your email now." Chromia said abruptly with definite coolness. "And we charge interest around here, so don't be _late_ on it."

Amy bit her tongue hard.

"Thank-you for letting me know." She said a second later.

Chromia left superciliously.

"What on earth did I do to make her hate me?" Amy wondered aloud a she started up her car.

She found Auri at their meeting place a few minutes later. The femme-ling was slouching against a building with a dark look on her face.

Amy parked and got out, double-checked where she'd parked, paused, and then took a picture of where she'd parked. Then she headed over to Auri. The femme-ling straightened when she saw her.

"Did you enjoy your lunch with the twins?" Amy asked.

Auri nodded and smile showed up. "Yes, I did very much. Was your lunch good?"

"Yes." Amy said, stifling a groan at the thought of what had happened afterwards. "Shall we go on now?"

Auri nodded then transformed.

"We are going to get looks of disapproval for being late." Auri said as they went on their way.

"Are we tha-?" Amy broke off as she looked at the clock. They were ten minutes late. And that was really late for a bunch of prompt robots. "I'm sorry, Auri. I guess I didn't watch the clock closely enough while I ate."

"It's okay." Auri said, but Amy could tell it wasn't going to be for much longer.

Amy checked her email on her phone and winced when she saw Chromia's ticket.

"Is everything alright?" Auri asked.

Amy sighed. "I got a ticket for parking beside a fire hydrant." She said.

"Oh." Auri said with disapproval.

The rest of the ride was quiet, for Amy didn't have the heart to ask questions, and Auri wasn't inclined to chatter as she had the other day.

They finally pulled up to a flat area where a small troop of human allies was doing an attack drill. Ironhide was there, and he looked over briefly before continuing his role-play as a Decepticon. Ultra Magnus gave them a scowl and pointed forcefully over to a different location.

Amy grabbed the door handle to brace herself as Auri took off with a jerk.

"Did I jolt you too badly?" Auri asked with concern as she parked in the right place.

"No, it's alright." Amy said. She got out, and Auri transformed and sat beside her.

"'Hide's being a Con. Magnus is being a Bot. And he's giving orders and directing them what to do." The little Cybertronian said. "They're some of the newer recruits." Amy watched and took notes.

It was rather fascinating to watch, but Amy rather felt bad for the men more than once as Magnus yelled at them for not following what he'd said. She supposed the Bot knew what he was doing, though.

They watched for a while, and then the troops and Bots seemed to quit and take a break.

"HEY, Magnus!" A man yelled from not too far away from Amy and Auri. He'd been standing there a while and watching, but he startled Amy, who'd not been aware of his presence.

Ultra Magnus looked over. "Greetings, Lennox!" He called.

Amy leaned so that she could see around Auri and see this Lennox person. She smothered a grin when she saw that he was the nice man with the Jeep who'd been so helpful on her horrible first day. He motioned for the mech to come over.

Ultra Magnus approached. "Good day, sir." He said, dropping down to one knee to shorten the distance between their heights.

"Good day, Ultra Magnus." Lennox said. "Can I give you a suggestion?"

Magnus nodded once.

"You don't have to yell all that loud." Lennox said with a smile. "You're well over several tons, and twenty-something feet tall, and your voice carries well. Just raise it a little, and that will be plenty."

Ultra Magnus regarded him speculatively.

Lennox nodded. "Try it. I think you'll get better results if you don't make them all jumpy."

"And Decepticons are not going to make them jumpy?" Ultra Magnus asked.

"Decepticons will. Bots ought not, though. Ironhide is the one who is supposed to be scaring them right now. You are supposed to be working on building their trust and confidence in you."

Ultra Magnus considered this. "You have a point." He said with a nod. "I will take your suggestion."

Lennox gave him a nod, and the mech left him and went back to his troops.

Lennox smiled over at Auri then. "Think it will work?" he asked her.

Auri nodded. "It should. I think he'll get the hang of it."

Lennox nodded. "Yeah. And I think the new guys will be okay eventually."

"Once they stop stopping to stare at us." Auri added with a giggle.

Lennox chuckled. "There is that." He said. Then he saw Amy. "Oh! Hello." He said, smiling as he touched the brim on his hat. "Lieutenant Colonel William Lennox." He said, coming over to shake her hand.

"Agent Amy Sora." She said, but confusion clouded her eyes. He didn't seem to recognize her at all.

"Have we met before?" he asked with a little cock of his head, seeing her look.

"I believe you gave me a ride in your Jeep to Med-Bay when I was trying to catch up with Auri a few days ago." She said.

He rubbed his head. "I just got back on base last night after being away for a week." He said. "Must have a look alike somewhere around here." He concluded with a grin.

Amy looked at him closely and felt annoyed. He was identical to the Jeep guy.

"Twin maybe?" Amy asked lightly.

"Not unless we were separated at birth." He said chuckling. Then he stopped. "Did this fellow look that much like me?" he asked seriously.

She nodded but was unwilling to say that he'd been identical.

Lennox shook his head as he pulled out his phone. He hit a couple buttons and then put it to his ear. "Yeah, _Hound_." He said a couple seconds later. "You busy?" Pause. "Okay, then get your af… uh..." His eyes darted to Amy quickly, "Self. Get yourself out to practice field Delta-nine. Y'hear?" Pause. "Yeah, pronto." He said. Then he smiled and hung up. "We'll get this straightened out." He told Amy confidently.

A blood-chilling whoop from the practice field made Amy jump. Lennox brushed his mouth.

"Nothing like a Decepticon warcry." He commented. Then he shot a dry grin up at Auri. "And nothing like having some Autobots teach your daughter how to do it and then coerce her into doing at six AM on a weekend."

"Lazy child." Auri said playfully with a mischievous sparkle in her optics, "They told her to do it at five."

Lennox chuckled. "They?"

"It was just the twins." Auri said. "I think their lack of a guardian present makes them unsympathetic. Me, I know how Ironhide would respond if I pulled off something like that."

"Yeah, knowing Ironhide, I'd not even consider it. I actually think Sarah was madder than I was..." Lennox turned at the sound of an engine.

Amy turned to see who was coming and saw a familiar Jeep pulled into view.

"Hey, Hound." Lennox greeted.

"Hello! Welcome back, sir." The Jeep said. "Greetings, Agent Sora." He said to Amy.

Amy nodded to him. "Greetings." She replied, but she didn't recall ever meeting him.

Lennox made a hand motion, and the Jeep transformed obediently. "You have plenty holographic drivers, Hound." Lennox told the bot, looking him in the face. "Why did you use me?"

"Aw… Lennox. It was just once for a couple minutes. Nobody else saw. Femmes seem to respond better to your holograph than they do to the others. And she really needed someone nice to cheer her up."

Lennox's left eye-brow raised considerably.

"It was _nothing_!" Hound swept his hands from side to side. "Just some smiles and nice words and a drive to get to Auri. You didn't even flirt!"

Lennox covered his face and sighed. "Hound."

Auri tried not to giggle.

"Hound," Lennox took his hand down. "Do not use me as a holograph again without permission, is that understood?"

"Yes, sir." Hound said.

"If you do, I will have to report you to Prowl." Lennox added half-heartedly.

"That's deterrent." Hound said drily. "I think he's still sore at me for using a holograph of him to slow that speeding liaison down a year and three months ago."

"I would say he has every right to be sore at you for it." Lennox said, smiling up at the green Bot.

"It didn't do anything he wouldn't have down." Hound said. "Oh, well. Rules are rules."

They were quiet for a couple minutes, watching the action in the field.

"_Just what interactions did you have with Agent Sora that first day?_" Auri asked Hound in Cybertronian.

Hound grinned as he shook his head. "_Not much._" He replied in the same language. "_You'd run off to Med-Bay to see Ratchet, and I found her miserable on the street corner. I coaxed her into letting me drive her to-_"

"Hey!" Lennox called in a slightly rebuking tone. He had frowned up at the bots once they'd started conversing their home language, but they'd not noticed him. "You know the norms about talking in Cybertronian in mixed company." He reminded them once he had their attention.

"_Agent Sora is rude company lacking thought for manners._" Auri retorted in Cybertronian. "_I'll speak Cybertronian or French or German around her if I please._"

Hound looked a little shocked. Amy had no idea what Auri had said, but she had a feeling it hadn't been overly nice.

Lennox looked mildly surprised but grew firm. "I think we need to step aside and talk about a thing or two." He told her, motioning for her to go with him as he started away.

"_You're not my guardian or commanding officer. You can't tell me what to do._" Auri told him in Cybertronian.

That stopped him in his tracks. What on earth had come over the sweet little femme? He looked her over.

"_I think you would not be happy if I talked to you in front of liaison_." He said in carefully learned Cybertronian.

Amy Sora's eyes widened in astonishment as she stared at him. He… spoke… Cybertronian…?

Auri's optics narrowed. She knew she didn't want to make a scene with him. She rose and followed him a short distance away.

"Sit." He told her gently. "What's going on?" He asked once she'd complied.

"She almost never shows up on time, and she lies, and she gets cross with me for very little reason. I don't like her anymore." Auri needed no coaxing. "She's exceptionally rude."

Lennox rubbed his chin. "So… you think this gives license you to be rude in return?" he asked.

"I don't know." Auri said sulkily.

William smiled inwardly. He was glad he had a daughter of his own and wasn't entirely unversed in how young girls were at times.

"You do know, Auri." He told her lovingly. "You know it doesn't. You are an Autobot. You stand for high ideals, and you stand no matter what is going on around you. No matter what anybody else does, you do what you know it right."

Auri lowered her optics away from him. He was right, and she was wrong. She didn't want to talk about this. She didn't want to be an Autobot; she wanted to be a sparkling so that she could howl and fuss and be petted and cuddled when things weren't nice. Lennox was being kind about reproving her, but she didn't like it any way.

"Auri?"

"I'm sulking." She informed him.

"I know that." He told her, almost smiling despite the situation. "I think we want to settle things before Ironhide finishes on the practice field, though."

Auri sulked a little more. Lennox knew he couldn't do anything with her at this point. Size was a problem. He'd have to wait until she either pulled herself out of it or until Ironhide got wind of it and made her straighten up. It ended up being the latter.

Ironhide came over after about seven or eight minutes. "Welcome back, Will." He said.

"Thank-you, my friend." He said, stepping back and watching as Ironhide pulled Auri to her feet. Ironhide leaned over and murmured something exceptionally quietly against Auri's helm while still holding onto her. She made an uncomfortable movement. He murmured something else, and then she nodded. He sat her back down then saluted Lennox before ambling back to where Ultra Magnus was drinking something cool.

Lennox looked back at Auri. She wasn't sulking anymore.

"Alright?" he asked her.

She nodded. Then she scooted over close to him. "I shouldn't be rude to anybody." She said, letting him know that he'd gotten his point across.

He nodded. "I know it gets hard under stress, though." He said, acknowledging her struggles.

She carefully hugged him. "You're a rare and special human, Lennox." She told him. "I'm glad you're part of our community."

"I am too." He said, rubbing her side fondly. He let her be happy with him for a little while, and then he suggested that they should rejoin Hound and Amy. Auri wasn't overly happy pleased this, but she went with him and then sat down beside Hound.

"You speak Cybertronian…" Amy marveled Lennox.

He chuckled. "Not according to the Bots, I don't." He said, "It's close enough, though."

"Was it hard to learn? I mean, harder than another human language?"

"It was pretty challenging, I'll say that much." He replied as he leaned against Auri. "As for it being harder… I'm not sure. I never succeeded in learning much Spanish in high-school, and I for sure didn't retain what I did learn. Being able to understand Cybertronian has been a huge help, though, and I'll say it's even been a life-saver. It's been worth the challenge."

Amy was able to keep Lennox talking for almost an hour before the field practice ended. It was the best almost hour of the day, as well as the most successful. Lennox was open and easy-going, and Amy was able to take lots of notes as he talked about how he and the Bots worked together.

Ironhide came up and sat, sprawling a little.

"Getting your mind picked?" He teased Lennox, winking at Amy as he saw her notepad.

"Somewhat." Lennox said, chuckling at his old friend. "Looked good out there."

"Thank-you. It went more smoothly after you called Magnus in."

Lennox smiled and ducked his head in appreciation of his praise. "I do what I can." He said. Then his eyes twinkled. "Belle has decided that she want to come work for NEST as a liaison." He told the mech, and Amy heard a note of pride in his voice.

"Hm." Ironhide found this intriguing. "A little young yet, isn't she?"

"Not even in high-school." Lennox said, "You know that. But she's got her plans all laid out. She says she'll be very good with the Bots because she's grown up with them but that she may need some extra college for working with the humans."

Ironhide chuckled, a deep rumbling chuckle that made Amy want to laugh as well.

"I'm sure NEST will glad help with the 'extra college' if we can get a useful person out it." He said as a serious afterthought.

Lennox nodded. "Even at this young age, I'm pretty sure she's devoted enough to you guys to be serious about this career."

Ironhide smiled. "I like that." He said.

Amy liked it, too. She'd only heard a little bit about Lennox's daughter, but it was enough that she wished the girl all the best.

Hound had some comment, and the conversation went on between the man and the two mechs. Auri listened in the presence of her guardian and elder, and Amy made observations. Lennox seemed to be completely accepted by the Bots, Amy noticed. He conversed easily with them, and they spoke with him as if he was one of their own kind. Amy enjoyed it, and it all went nicely.


	70. Chapter 70, See It Differently

CHAPTER SEVENTY! I can hardly believe this fic is this long now!

I don't beta often, but I did last week, and the fic I read was really well done. It's in the TFP universe, and it's the first fic of Soundwave092, who's one of the loyal readers of this fic. It's entitled "Transformers Prime: Thieves and Traitors." ~Decepticon action, and some exceptional story-telling of it. Here's the link, take out the spaces,

www. fanfiction s/ 8240828/1/ Transformers_Prime_Thieves_and_Traitors

I'm working on packing up my stuff, finding and buying a car, moving to a different state and finding an apartment/house to rent while I attend a four-year college. (Oh, and finding a job to support myself…) It's going to be a huge adventure… I intend to keep updating Auri's story, though.

* * *

**Chapter 70**

**See It Differently**

Amy was enjoying her company very much. Hound was a nice Bot, Lennox was great, Ironhide was awesome, and Auri seemed to be cheerful for time being. The notes Amy had been able to take made up for the disappointing ones of the morning, and Amy was starting to feel downright happy.

She had gotten tired of standing a little while ago and had sat down on the ground to listen to the conversation. She rather envied Lennox who was leaning comfortably against Auri's leg. Those two were on good terms despite whatever disagreement they'd had earlier.

Ironhide had something humorous to say in response to Lennox, and Amy couldn't help but join in the laughter. As Ironhide continued with his remarks and the laughter faded away, though, Amy saw something that made her tense up again. Chromia was walking across the field, heading towards them.

Lennox noted the sudden change in Amy's demeanor and straightened up to look around a little. He saw Chromia approaching and glanced back at Amy to confirm that it was the femme that had caused her to tense up. It was, he was certain, but he wondered why. Hound was talking to him, though, so he had to attend to the conversation.

Chromia came closer and closer, her optics on Ironhide's back. She knew that he was aware that she was sneaking up on him, but that didn't stop her. When she was quite close, she sudden bounded forward and tackled her mech with a shout.

He'd been waiting for that. He'd been ready for it. He rolled with it and then wrestled playfully with her for a couple moments until she hit him unintentionally in the face with her elbow. Then he gave a short growl pain and sat up.

"It's all fun a games until Ironhide loses an optic, 'Mia." Lennox said with a chuckle.

"He didn't lose one, though." Chromia said, kneeling by her mech to check his face. "Not quite… it must hurt, though…" she trailed off and tenderly kissed his temple.

Ironhide liked this and pulled her to sit on his lap.

Lennox shot a look over at Amy to see how she was taking this. She looked a little surprised but not nearly as much as Lennox had been thinking she would be. She must have been around them a bit then, he realized.

"Better?" Chromia asked.

"Yeah, but,"

"Ahem." Lennox said deliberately.

"Hi, Will." Chromia greeted with a chuckle. "Welcome back. Did you have a good time with your family?"

"I had a wonderful time." He said. "And my girls send you their warmest greetings."

Chromia smiled, obviously pleased at this. "When are they coming to visit?"

"We've not got that figured out yet." Lennox said, "But we're working on it."

"Okay." Chromia said. Then she saw Amy, and her facial expression changed. "I was serious about that parking ticket, Agent." She said coolly.

Amy bit her tongue as several different ways to answer crossed her mind. She wanted to give the femme what for, but she thought better of it. Yelling at someone was no way to make them more inclined to treat you nicely.

"You know what," She finally said. "I will excuse myself and go pay it right now." She informed the femme in an even tone.

"Good idea." Chromia told her with no approval.

Amy got up and brushed some grass from her slacks. "I will catch up with you as soon as I can, Auri." She told the femme-ling in a subdued tone. "Hound, would you please take me back to the city?"

"No problem, Agent Sora." The mech said. He transformed quickly, knowing this wasn't an area he wanted to be in for very long.

Amy climbed in and buckled her seatbelt. Hound started to drive off, but then he stopped. Amy bit her lip, fearing the worst, but instead Lennox climbed in beside her. Hound pulled forward then and accelerated.

Ironhide watched them go and then turned his optics back to his femme.

"That wasn't the kindest tone, my Femme, why-so?" He asked.

"How can you ask that?" Chromia demanded, "She's a liaison. You know how they cause trouble about tickets and accuse us of tampering with evidence or situations."

"Some do, but not all."

"'Hide. Have you noticed this one? What of the phone thing?"

Ironhide shook his head and answered quietly. "She seems to be struggling. She doesn't seem to be vicious. Why did you use that tone towards her?"

Chromia looked defensive. "I want her to be intimidated enough to not try to cause trouble. And I _know_ you don't like that."

"I don't." Ironhide acknowledged quietly. "Chromia, she's had nothing but trouble-"

"She's _been_ nothing but trouble!" Chromia interjected hotly, causing Ironhide to frown.

"She is new and struggling." Ironhide said firmly. Then he looked over at Auri. She was sitting uncertainly by, undecided as to what to do. "What if Auri was in a hard place and messing up left and right because she couldn't figure out how not to? You would guide her, but you wouldn't punish her."

Chromia's optics narrowed. "Are you suggesting I treat a liaison like I treat Bots?"

"A liaison is a sentient being as we Bots are."

"I _know that_!"

"You don't think they deserve the same treatment, though?"

Chromia looked stubborn as she fought an inward battle. Then she balled up a fist and lightly rubbed Ironhide's belly with it as she put her head against his shoulder. "We should treat them the same, shouldn't we…" she murmured.

Ironhide nodded.

Chromia brought her head up and kissed Ironhide's jaw. "Alright." She said, watching him. "I'll down-grade the ticket to a warning."

Ironhide kissed her head. "It's the right thing."

Auri left, feeling mixed emotions. She felt cross, mostly, though. She was ready to be done with her liaison.

OoOoOoOoOoOoO

Neither human said anything for a couple minutes as the Jeep took them towards the city, but then Lennox looked over.

"I take it there's more between you and Chromia than a ticket." He said.

"I haven't done anything to her." Amy protested softly. "She was nice enough the first few times that we met, but today… she's just vicious!"

Lennox was quiet, thinking. "You've been here for a couple days, right?" he asked after a moment.

She nodded.

He paused, trying to figure out how to say something without it coming across as rude. "Ah… I've just gotten back," he said slowly, "So, I don't know exactly what's been going on… but… have there been any problems between you and Auri?"

Just from the look that fell over Amy's face, Lennox knew there had. Amy nodded.

Lennox pursed his lips. "Well…" he said, "I hate to say this and sound like I'm faulting you; I'm not faulting you or charging you with anything. It's just a statement of fact. If Chromia thinks you're to blame for problems between you and Auri, then it would explain her actions. She's a femme-guardian, and femme-guardians are highly, highly protective of their young. If she sees you as a threat to her youngling's well-being in any way, physically or emotionally, she will regard you and treat you as such."

Amy nodded slowly. "I guess that makes sense." She said. "But…" she hesitated. "I… how…" she faltered, and Lennox looked over her.

"Say what's on your mind." He said.

She sighed. "I don't know what to think about this parking ticket." She said. "I'm certain, very certain that I did _not_ park my car by the hydrant that it was ticketed for being parked by."

Lennox raised an eyebrow. "And you think Chromia may have pushed your car beside it for spite?" he asked.

Amy bit her lip. She didn't want to say it, but it was what she thought. She nodded uncomfortably.

"It's fine for you to admit that to me, and Hound will keep it confidential." Lennox assured her. "As for Chromia pushing your car… I doubt that _Chromia_ did it; that's not her style. That's a subtle, underhand thing to do, and she is not a subtle, underhand kind of Bot. And she wouldn't misuse her power of being in law enforcement."

"Oh." Amy said, feeling very small.

"It's highly possible that another Bot may have pushed it, though, so don't feel bad for thinking that." He told her.

"Okay." Amy looked over at him. He seemed nice and neutral… Maybe he could help her.

"Can I tell you what's gone on?" she asked. He nodded as though he was surprised that she even thought she had to ask. She told him about the things that had gone wrong since her arrival, starting with being alone on the airstrip and going up to the events of that afternoon.

"It's been so stressful that I can hardly think straight anymore." Amy said.

"Know that feeling." Lennox said with a brief nod. "Like being under fire. I've got some things to say, but we're almost to the office, so I'll hold it."

"Okay." She said. "…Thank-you." She added.

He nodded. Hound pulled up and stopped. "Wait for us, will you?" he said to Hound.

"Yes, sir." Hound said. Lennox stepped out of the Jeep as Amy carefully climbed down. Then he was at the door before she got to it, and he opened it, stepping back and holding it for her.

"Thank-you." She said, a little surprised. She was even more surprised when he followed her in and walked with her to the desk.

"Colonel Lennox!" The young man behind the desk evidently knew him. "Welcome back."

"Thank-you, Paulson." Lennox said. Then he looked to Amy. "Agent Sora is here about a parking ticket."

Paulson's eye swept to Amy then went to his computer. "Ah... Amy Gabriella Sora?" he asked after a couple moments.

"Yes." Amy said. Lennox stepped away and looked at things on his phone to give her privacy.

Paulson told her the sum of the fine, and she handed him her credit card. The transaction was completed fairly quickly, but Amy hated every second of it.

Soon, but hardly soon enough, Lennox was holding the Jeep door for her, and then he was climbing in beside her as she looked down at her receipt.

Hound started his engine. "Auri said to meet her at the lounge." He told them. "I can take you there."

"Thank-you, Hound." Lennox said, and the Jeep pulled away from the curb and started down the street.

Amy put the receipt away with a sigh.

"Sora," Lennox said.

"Yes?"

"What I have to say… The Bot's are complicated beings. I've been among them for a decade now, and there are still a whole lotta things I don't get. I'm not sure what is going on with them and you. I know a few people who I can have look into a couple things, so I'll do that. But, as far as guessing what's happening, I have no clue. I don't see why a human would do it, and I don't really believe a bot would do it. But I also don't see why someone with a perfect record would come here on her first solo mission and blow it."

Amy felt a smile of eternal gratitude spread across her face.

"As for Chromia…" his voice softened and lowered a little. "She…" he hesitated. "She has a lot of scars," He told Amy, looking over at her. "…A lot of scars here." He said, tapping his chest lightly. "I don't know details, and I couldn't share them if I did, but I know that she has a whole lot of baggage to deal with. Sometimes it causes her to be harsh towards others, and particularly to those whom she doesn't know well.

"I asked Magnus a couple questions while you were paying your fine," he went on, "And I think… not completely certain, but it's quite possible that Chromia may think you are trying to discredit Auri by saying that you never went out to the challenge course when your phone was there. You could easily twist things to make it look like Auri was lying. You could say that you left your phone with her, and she went out later and lost it. You could very easily tell that story, and that's what I think Chromia is thinking."

Amy's eyes widened as she took in Lennox's words. And his last few words were disturbing. "I would never do such a thing." She said.

"Most people wouldn't." Lennox assured her. "But Chromia is still fairly suspicious of humans to begin with, and you do have the title of liaison."

"Have all liaisons been so bad?" Amy asked, frowning.

"Not all of them, but many of them haven't been that great. We have a huge, huge amount of stereotyping to overcome here. The humans come in thinking, 'oh, great big clanking robots.' And they don't treat them with respect. And then the Bots get a bad impression of liaisons and don't want to open up to them or work with them. I wish things could have worked out differently. It's started a vicious circle."

"I can see that."

"And it's hurting you and Auri, two beings who've never even been in the Bot-Liaison mess before. -Actually, Auri has had some dealings with a couple liaisons, but she did remarkably well …aside from repainting one's car an undesirable color on his last day. But, he was a major jerk."

"Oh…" this wasn't overly encouraging.

"It was his personal car, very expensive, and he was a budget liaison who harassed the Bots on every penny spent. Auri made a statement and paid him back for all the irritation he'd caused her and Commander Prowl."

"You're saying her actions were justified?" Amy asked, frowning.

Lennox paused. "I'm saying her actions are understandable." He said. "She regretted her actions greatly afterwards." He added softly. "She was so upset when Prowl's words hit her… she said she'd never do that sort of thing again, and I believe she will hold true to those words."

Amy didn't know what to say.

"We're almost to the lounge now," Lennox said. "If you'll give me your contact information, I'll keep in touch, and we'll see about your tech problems. Okay?"

"Okay." Amy said. She gave him a phone number and an email address, and he put both into a small data-pad like device. She eyed it.

He smiled. "It's Bot-tech." he confirmed. "I can't take it off this Base, but I love having it when I'm here."

"That's cool." Amy said, smiling.

Hound came to a stop and opened his passenger door. "The lounge." He announced.

"I'm getting out, too." Lennox said, banging his fist lightly on his door.

"Wanna bet?" Hound challenged as Amy stepped out.

"Thank-you for your help, both of you." Amy said as she stood of the sidewalk.

"You're welcome." Hound said, keeping Lennox's door firmly shut.

"I'm not done yet." Lennox said, climbing over the door and jumping away from Hound. He punched the Jeep's fender.

"Ow." Hound said flatly.

Lennox rubbed his arm on the Bot. "Later." He told him then stepped away. Lennox smiled at the concerned look on Amy's face. "It's called 'roughhousing.'" He said. "It means we're comrades."

Amy glanced back at the Jeep as it disappeared around a corner. She wished she was on good terms… even half as good as Lennox was. It took time, though, she supposed. She turned back, smiled faintly at Lennox, and then looked at the lounge.

They walked up, and they could hear music playing within. Lennox opened the human-sized door, and the song was heard full power. It was party music from earth, and once the two humans stepped in, Amy looked around and saw Auri dancing with the twins.

"Most Bots love dancing." Lennox told Amy over the music. "They have all different kinds, just like we do, and then some."

"Nice," Amy answered as she watched. The twin mechs were incredibly good, and Auri seemed to have potential.

"I've been told that they used to have dance competitions and shows back on Cybertron."

"That would have been amazing to see."

Lennox nodded.

Sunny tripped over Auri, and the two of them crashed to the floor, taking out Sides as they did so.

"MY PAIIIIIINT!" Sunny howled, and they laughed until he joined them.

One of them turned down the music remotely.

"I think you lose the round if you end up on the floor, but I may remember wrong." Sides said, extracting his leg from beneath his twin.

"Oof." Sunny grunted. "I think you get disqualified."

"That's kinda severe, don't you think?" Auri asked.

"No, he doesn't think." Sunny said.

"Hey!" Sides said. "Lennox! …and… Gora?"

"Sora." Amy correctly crossly.

"Come on over." Sunny called. "Auri's already down, so you down have to worry about getting squished."

"Sunny!" Auri giggled. "I'm not that clumsy! You were in the wrong place at the wrong time!"

"Wrong place, right time."

"That's not logical."

"You're not Prowl."

Auri banged her fist on his head lightly.

"Ow, stop!" he laughed.

"I bang some sense into your head first! Then I stop!"

"They're like siblings." Lennox said to Amy as he chuckled at the youngling behavior. "Hey." He called then, and the Bots stopped and gave him their complete attention. "Auri has some more time to spend with Agent Sora, I believe."

"I do." Auri said, not looking overly pleased as she got off Sunny. "Two hours."

"Two hours?" Asked Sides incredulously. "What on earth d-?"

Sunny slapped him upside the head. "Be nice. Remember?"

"Yeah." Sides said. "What are you going to do for two hours?" he asked, making an effort to sounding friendly.

"Well…" Auri said, pulling out her data-pad with a slight sulky look. "Red-Alert had been a 'maybe' on the schedule, but he doesn't like me much and he doesn't like liaisons, so he decided he would be a 'no' instead."

"Aw." Sides said, reaching over to rub Auri's shoulder. "You know he has issues. It's not entirely personal."

Auri didn't say anything. She was tired of the whole liaison mess and wanted it to be over.

"Hey, tell you what," Sides said eagerly.

"What…" Auri shared none of his enthusiasm.

"Sunny and I can tell her some about dance from Cybertron. That's related to our culture, right?"

"Right…" Auri agreed reluctantly.

"Okay then!" Sunny said cheerfully. "Sides, find the human-sized sofa or whatever it is so that they can sit."

"Me?"

"It was your idea. I'll find some music." Sunny went over to the console.

Sides shrugged comically and skated over to a closet. He was back a few moments later, carrying the couch. He set it down near the dance but not too close for comfort.

"Have a seat, and let the entertainment begin." Sides said, bowing before spinning away with flare.

Lennox smiled in amusement at the twin's antics and nodded for Amy to sit. Once she'd cautiously sat, he took a seat a comfortable distance away.

"Now," Sunny said, taking center stage of the dance floor and looking pleased with himself, "I am pleased to present my good brother Sideswipe, our dear sister Aurion-Blaze, and myself, the Sensational Sunstreaker."

Auri looked irked. "I never said I was going to dance." She said crossly.

"_What_?" Sides asked, slightly shocked.

"I don't want to and don't feel like it." She told him, raising her door-wings standoffishly.

Sunny and Sides looked over at each other.

::This isn't good.:: Sunny told his brother over their private intercom.

::Yeah. Not good at all. Suggestions?::

::Well, we can't make her dance, so I guess we just have to let her sit it out.::

::Okay.::

"Ah, okay then. We will be missing the talent of Aurion-Blaze, but I am still able to present the fabulous twin duo." Sunny didn't let a note of chagrin enter his announcer tone, but he knew they deserved Auri's snub in ways she didn't know about.

Auri walked off and sat herself on the Bot-sized couch off to the side.

"Lack of a femme does cut down on the variety that we can present; however, there are many dances in Autobot culture that do not require a partner or can be done in groups or lines." Sunny continued. "We do, however, prefer to have music. We had a wide variety of instruments back on the home-planet, but few of them made it here. Countless recordings were brought to this planet, though. Due to privacy issues, however, we will substitute similar earth songs."

Lennox leaned over. "They like to be the center of attention, if you've not guessed it." He whispered to Amy.

"I heard that, Lieutenant Colonel." Sunny said, "I take it you want me to skip the intro and cut to the dancing?"

Lennox chuckled. "Run the show as you please, _Sensational_ Sunny."

"We seek to please the audience." Sunny said, bowing slightly. "Sideswipe, music."

Sides touched the screen on the console, "Here's something real." Sides said.

"Okay." Sunny said. "One form of dance we have is similar to break dancing. We call it, 'brake dancing.' B-R-A-K-E D-A-, no, just kidding."

Amy chuckled despite the badness of the pun, and the twin grinned as he stepped away so that Sides could show his style.

Sides was exceptionally good, Amy thought. Sides finished his dance and bowed.

"Dance has many benefits," Sunny said. "It's good for keeping fit, honing battle moves, and maintaining ease of mobility. It is also used as a social function, competition, courting function…" he raised an optic ridge, "And… also for celebrations. And for just having fun.

"Ah, the next dance will feature the both of us. It's a battle practice dance, as odd as that sounds to humans.

Sides smiled as he skated over to his brother. "Ready?" he asked.

"Ready." Sunny said, and then the song started. It was fast and heavy. The twins were fast and light as the moved. They used fight moves against each other, but they barely touched when they struck, and it was all synced to the music. Amy found herself mesmerized by it.

Lennox must have been impressed with the number, too, for he clapped when the twins bowed. Amy clapped as well once she saw that Lennox was doing it. Then someone with metal hands clapped from the doorway.

"Nice job, Twins." Chromia said, coming in.

"Thank-you." The twins said together. They both felt slightly shy at having won her praise. They were very pleased, though.

Amy was on guard now.

Chromia smiled at the twins. "I'm going to hold up your show for a moment, but then you can get back to it."

"Okay." Sides said, for no one argued with Chromia, and he and Sunny went to talk with each other.

Chromia approached the humans and sat down in front of them.

"I've changed your ticket to a warning." She told Amy, and there was no sound of the hostility that had been in her tone earlier.

"Oh…! Th-thank-you." Amy managed to say.

Chromia lowered her head a little. "And I must apologize for the tone that I used towards you earlier. I worked to intimidate you because I thought you were going to try to cause me trouble."

"It's alright." Amy told her. "It's been explained to me that the title of liaison simply comes with a bad reputation."

Chromia nodded. "Yeah." She said. "Well, anyway. You're ticket has been cleared and your money refunded."

"Thank-you."

Chromia nodded then rose and stepped aside. "Okay, Twins. Intermission's done. What's next?"

Sunny and Sides came over. "A celebratory dance." Sides said. "Er, one of the countless that we have."

"Sounds fun…" Chromia caught sight of Auri on the couch by herself. "Tell you what, I generally dance with taller mechs, but Auri and I can join you for some partner dances.

"I already told them, I don't want to dance." Auri retorted.

Chromia was startled by Auri's tone. She sounded like a petulant brat.

"Do you feel badly?" she asked, hoping that her femme-ling was just tired.

"No. I'm fine." Auri said crossly.

"You're in a bad attitude." Chromia put her finger on it.

Auri looked away mutinously.

"None of that." Chromia said briskly. "Go burn it on the race-track or the challenge course."

Auri didn't move.

"I mean it." Chromia told her, "Get up and go spend twenty minutes hard on the track or the course. And then report back to me. I want you hot and gusty when you get back. Understood?"

Auri slid her behind slowly off the couch and stood with crossed arms. "Yeah." She said then stalked silently to the door.

Chromia raised an optic ridge. "Auri, come here."

Auri shook her head and stalked over to Chromia.

"You know what is acceptable behavior and what is not." Chromia told her, putting a hand on Auri's shoulder. "Here's your only warning." She said then gave Auri a firm swat on the behind. "You answer me properly and then go do as I told you. And you speak nicely or I'll swat you harder."

Auri knew Chromia didn't bluff. She sighed then summoned up enough meekness to make herself sound respectful. "Yes, Chromia." She said softly.

Chromia hugged her gently but found resistance in her body. "That was right way to answer." She told her femme-ling kindly. "Now go on."

Auri left.

Chromia grimaced. "That was only outward… did it count?" she asked Lennox.

"I think it was all you could have gotten. I was rather impressed that it went that smoothly." He said honestly. "You handled it well."

"Okay." Chromia said as she came over. She dropped down on the couch that sat just behind the humans' couch. "She's been in a bad attitude more or less since this morning. I _hope_ sending her out will get her to burn it off."

Lennox turned and smiled up at the femme. "You do well, Chromia." He told her, winning an almost shy smile from the femme-guardian.

"Thank-you, one of experience." She said sincerely. Then she raised an optic-ridge. "Enough of this lest the twins get irked and short out their patience circuits."

"Do they actually have patience circuits?" Lennox asked, joking.

"Awwww." Sides groaned. Sunny rubbed his head.

"Proceed." Chromia told them.

They had several more dances to show, and the twins took turns explaining a little about each dance.

"Um…" Sunny said after several dances, "If you're too settled there, Chromia, w... would you honor us by joining us on the dance floor?"

"It would be my pleasure." Chromia said graciously as she rose.

OoOoOoOoOoOoOoO

Auri headed out to race track, feeling mad. She didn't want to behave.

Well, she had to, and she knew it.

Chromia wasn't going to accept any behavior other than the right behavior. Ironhide wouldn't either. And if she crossed one guardian, she crossed them both.

Oh, she knew they disagreed about some things sometimes, but she knew Ironhide would back Chromia on this.

As she drove, she replayed in her mind the interaction she'd seen between her guardians after Hound and the humans had left. Chromia had been wrong, and Ironhide had been right. Chromia had gracefully bowed to what was right when she'd seen it.

She wanted to be like Chromia is so many ways…

If Chromia would accept correction like that, Auri would, too.

The track lay ahead. Auri merged onto it and accelerated. She was determined to give it the hardest twenty minutes it had ever seen.

OoOoOoOoOoOoO

Chromia wasn't sure whether to laugh at Sunny or feel bad for him. She'd been dancing a fast song with him, and he'd miscalculated his timing and steps. He'd run into her hard, and they'd both gone crashing to the floor with Sunny on top.

The twin scrambled off Ironhide's femme as fast as he could as his face heated up. "I- I- I- y-y-y-y… S-s-s-sorry…! I- it… I mean,"

Chromia chuckled and got up. "No fret, Sensational Sunny." Tumbles were a small thing to her.

Sunny half choked at the title. When had she found out about that?

"Just give me a hand up next time you wipe me out." She told him with a friendly cuff on the neck.

"…'kay…" Sunny gulped, embarrassed and humiliated. All his cockiness was completely gone.

Chromia looked him over. "What gives, Sunny?" she asked, sensing something was wrong in the twin's world.

He shook his head, too ashamed.

"Sides," Chromia said, "You take the next dance." She told him, then touched Sunny's shoulder to tell him to come with her. Sunny followed her as she went away from the stage to a corner. "What is it, Sunny?" Chromia asked gently.

Sunny hung his head.

She waited for an answer for a few moments, but Sunny couldn't bring himself to speak.

"Sun," Chromia said softly in Cybertronian. "What is it?"

He shrugged uncomfortably. "You and Ironhide are one of the best dancing couples there is… I… I get a chance to dance with you, and I… I manage to make a total klutz of myself." He was clearly ashamed.

His optics on the floor, he missed the fond smile that Chromia gave him. The femme had never realized that the young mech looked up to her and Ironhide's dancing skill that much. '_Why… He must idolize us to be so embarrassed at the little stumble._'

She shook her head. "Oh, Sunny, do you seriously think Ironhide never mistimes a step?"

"Well… not in public…" the twin said,

Chromia chuckled softly. "He has. He has, Sunny." She said. She reached over and rubbed his shoulder. "I don't think badly of you for that little tumble." She told him sincerely. "I've seen your dancing, and you have nothing to be ashamed of."

Sunny peeked up at her.

She smiled. "You're good." She said. "You're usually better, but I understand that you might be overworking on something."

Sunny nodded as he pushed back a guilty feeling.

"Okay then." Chromia said. "Come on. Let's go back so that Sides doesn't have to do solo."

"Okay," Sunny said. He mentally kicked himself, though, as he followed her back to their stage. He knew why he was so clumsy as of late, and he was really beginning to regret ever starting Operation Anti-Liaison.

Chromia grabbed his hand as she jumped onto the dance floor. That was his cue; they were going to dance this one with Sides. They were going to shine.

Dancing in a group of three was more complicated, but it was also impressive. A quick glance at the liaison showed that she was properly in awe of their skill.

They bowed at the end of the song, Chromia standing between the two mechs, and the humans clapped.

"That sort of dance was common among younger bots in competitions." Chromia said. "Or in socializing. Groups of three can be tricky, though." She added with a chuckle. "Communication gets trickier."

"That I'm sure of." Lennox said.

"Not unlike battle." Chromia quipped with a wink at him.

Auri stuck her head in the lounge and then came in once she saw that she wasn't interrupting a dance.

"Well, MyAuri?" Chromia said, looking at her carefully.

"I love you." Auri said, scampering over and hugging her femme-guardian warmly.

Chromia smiled at Lennox as she hugged her femme-ling. "I love you, too." She said, "You chose the track, I guess from the lack of dirt?"

"Indeed, I did." Auri said, pleased with her performance. "I beat one of my fastest practice times, too." She added then reported the time.

"Wonderful." Chromia said sincerely. She couldn't have been more pleased. The time hardly mattered to her, except that it mattered to Auri; what mattered was the attitude change.

Auri paused almost shyly, and then she looked up at Chromia. "Thank-you for being a good example to me."

Chromia almost choked. She considered herself a lot of things… a good example wasn't really one of them.

"Dear… um, in what?" she managed to say.

"In listening to someone who was right when you were wrong." Auri said simply.

Chromia found herself speechless. She pieced things together, though, and realized what Auri had been drawing from. She hugged her femme-ling again and gave her a kiss on the head.

Auri smiled up at her and then slipped away to talk to the twins about what had happened earlier.

Chromia watched as the femme-ling hugged her surrogate brothers. '_And to think I'd wanted to fight him on that subject… I'm glad I didn't. You really cut it close, don't you, Chromia?_'

"Auri's on the floor," Sides said in his announcer tone. Chromia moved to the couch behind the humans. Sides glanced at Auri, "She and Sunny have a nifty little competition piece that I think everybody should see."

"Bring it!" Chromia called.

All eyes and optics were on the two brightly-colored Bots as they whirled and danced, but Lennox spared a couple seconds to whisper up at Chromia, "Nice going, femme-guardian."

Chromia smiled and then reached down to rest her hand on the back of the couch, touching his back lightly. He was a good ally in parenting. She was glad to have him.


	71. Chapter 71, Prowl Pranks, Marker Madness

This chapter… wasn't really planned. It just turned out like this, and I kept it. Silly fluff-plot plot-bunnies...

* * *

**Chapter 71**

**Prowl Pranks, Marker Madness**

"How long will it take the side-effects to wear off once you've stopped the antivirus?" Prowl asked Ratchet.

"I'm not entirely sure." Ratchet said, glancing at the Bot who was sitting on the side of his berth. The door-winger had been a little jittery since that morning when Ratchet had said that the virus was gone and they could stop the antivirus doses.

"Oh." Prowl said, wiggling his foot in annoyance. "How long after the effects wear off will I get to go back to work?"

"Look," Ratchet said impatiently. Then he stopped himself and made himself speak patiently. "We've already gone over this several times, Prowl. We have to wait and see how things go."

Prowl's door-wings lowered. "I had forgotten that I had asked you before." He said apologetically. "I will try to not ask again."

"Thank-you." Ratchet said, feeling his spark soften. "And I will try to give you answers as soon as I can."

"Thank-you." Prowl said. Ratchet returned his full attention to his lab work, and Prowl went back to looking around the room and thinking.

Once the antivirus was gone, his logic core would return to its normal function. That would be good. Then he wouldn't be so on edge. He felt downright like Blurr, actually, when he thought about it too long. Many thoughts clouded his emote-core because logic wasn't filtering them out… Crazy things that he practically never thought about for more than a second would sometimes concern him for several minutes before he'd realize that they weren't things to be concerned about. And then there were the daydreams when his processor would wander. His logic-core would never permit that if it'd been working fully.

There was a downside, though. He would miss being so free. Auri would be sad. And he wasn't sure if he'd be sad about it. He didn't want to be sad, but he didn't want to be unfeeling. Auri… Auri… she was so sweet; he hoped the change wouldn't hurt her. She could be sensitive sometimes. He'd stepped on her before, and it had worked out alright, hadn't it? It had worked out, but it had been rough. Well, Ratchet said she was resilient, so she'd be fine. He didn't want to hurt her feelings ever, though.

He got off the berth and walked to the end of the room. They'd talked about it. She understood. He shouldn't worry about it anymore.

He reached the end of the room and turned. He shouldn't worry. He started walking back to his berth. He had to worry because he cared, though. Care… that was a dangerous word for a logical bot. He had to admit that he cared for her, though, because he did. He cared for everybody, actually, but she seemed more vulnerable than everybody else.

He reached his berth and turned, starting back towards to end of the room.

Ratchet snapped his fingers in reprimand, and Prowl sat down quickly on his berth. Ratchet had said no pacing. No pacing. No pacing. No pacing.

Prowl clenched his fists. He wasn't in a mood for no pacing. He fidgeted. He forced himself to sit sill, but then he felt panicky.

"Ratchet, please, please let me pace." He begged, "I can pace in the other room, or in a far hallway." He added desperately.

Ratchet turned and looked at the anxious door-winger. Pacing drove him mad unless he was the one doing it. He would still hear Prowl's footfalls if Prowl was pacing in the other room, and he would see the movement on the hallway monitor cameras.

"You may pace outside," Ratchet decided, "But, do not leave the sidewalk that runs around this building."

"Thank-you." Prowl was off the berth as he spoke, and Ratchet heard the Med-Bay doors open and close moments later.

The warm, nourishing sunlight hit Prowl's door-wings the moment he stepped outside. An overwhelming drowsiness flooded his system as his solar-paneled wings began to absorb the sun's energy, and the need to pace faded away.

He smiled slightly and sat down on the step to enjoy the sunrays. He focused in on how good the sun felt, and the worries and stress melted away.

Optimus came up the street and found him with optics lightly shuttered, half-napping, sometime later. The leader had come to visit Prowl every day that he'd been in Med-Bay, occasionally coming twice a day, and this was the time he'd come to visit.

Optimus stood, watching for a couple moments, but Prowl didn't notice him.

The Prime had a small mischievous streak in him. It usually didn't show, but now, as a harmless opportunity presented itself, it peeked out. Optimus glanced and saw that no one else was on the street, and then he stepped between Prowl and the sun, casting a shadow over the winger.

"Move and I won't shoot you in the foot…" Prowl muttered.

Optimus chuckled as he moved.

Prowl knew that chuckle. He snapped out of his half-charge and jumped up. "Prime! I-"

"It is alright, Prowl." Optimus told him, putting a calming hand on his shoulder.

Prowl twitched a door-wing. "Another reason I do not nap in public." He said.

Optimus smiled and sat down, motioning for Prowl to follow suit.

"How are you doing?" Optimus asked.

Prowl half-smiled. "That is a complicated question to answer, Prime."

"Just answer some of the less complicated parts of it."

"Ratchet has found that the virus is completely gone, so he is going to discontinue the antivirus doses this evening." Prowl reported. "The recent battle wounds are fully recovered, and the sprain that I received the other day is mostly healed."

"You are doing well physically then." Optimus summarized.

Prowl nodded.

"Emotionally?" Optimus asked gently after a moment.

"Emotionally, I am a mess." Prowl said. "I look forward to the safety and stability of logicalness, but at the same time…" he gritted his jaws. "I… I have enjoyed being able to..." It was hard to say. "…to freely have fun around Auri and spend… different time with her."

Optimus, as a near friend and as a Prime, could slightly feel the conflict within his Second-in-Command. There were intense feelings within this smaller Bot, feelings that the Bot himself wasn't sure how to handle.

"Auri is sweet to spend time with, is she not?" Optimus said empathetically.

Prowl nodded, and it seemed to be an almost miserable nod.

"What concerns you the most about her at this point?" Optimus asked after careful consideration.

"I fear that she will get hurt feelings and feel pushed away by me once the antivirus quits and I go back to cool logic."

Optimus nodded. He could see the reasoning behind that. "Have you two talked about it?"

Prowl nodded. "She says she understands and that she'll be fine."

"Do you trust her?"

Prowl looked at the lines in the sidewalk. "I… I do. She is a brave little thing. I… I just don't trust me, and she trusts me completely."

"You both trust and care for each other. I believe you two will be able to work things out if it gets rough or troubled." Optimus said gently.

"Truly?" Prowl asked, looking up his Prime.

Prime nodded. "Truly."

Prowl looked back down. "Thank-you."

"You are welcome." Prime said. He stayed a little while more, but then he had to go to the practice field.

Prowl watched him go, wishing he could go to the practice field as well. He knew the day would come, though, so he didn't dwell on it any more after the Prime disappeared from view.

After a little while, he realized that he wanted some Energon, so he went indoors, heading back to his berth.

Ratchet looked over when he came in. "Settled down now?" He asked.

Prowl smiled as he took an Energon cube. "I got drowsy the second the sun hit my wings." He said. He took a sip and swallowed before speaking again. "I ended up sitting on the steps and napping until Prime decided to step between the sun and me."

"From the lack of commotion, I take it you didn't shoot him in the foot."

"I warned him first, and he moved." Prowl said, looking a little cheeky but somewhat abashed.

"Door-wingers…!" Ratchet shook his head in exasperation, but, in truth, he was glad to note that Prowl seemed to have settled down.

The tranquility of Med-Bay was broken less than half an hour later, however, when Chromia came in with Auri over her shoulder.

Prowl had been idling with his Energon, but he gasped and came to attention at the sight and sound of Auri whimpering in Chromia's arms.

"What happened?" Ratchet asked as he hurried over to the femmes.

"Wing-connector sprain or similar." Chromia said quickly as Ratchet reached for Auri.

"Noooo!" Auri wailed when Ratchet put a hand on her shoulder.

"Ratchet has to put you on a berth." She told her femme-ling.

"Owwwww…!"

"She's a door-winger in pain." Ratchet said to Chromia, making it sound like that explained everything. "Come on, Little One. Let's get you more comfortable." He ignored the increasing wail and took Auri from Chromia.

"OWWWW…!" Auri shrieked when Ratchet laid her down on the berth.

Ratchet smacked her rump. "It's not that bad, and we both know it." He said sternly. Chromia gave him an 'I'm going to throttle you if you smack her again' sort of look, and he quickly moved to find something in a drawer.

"What happened?" He asked, finding the box of candy that he kept on hand. He turned and noticed for the first time that Sunny and Sides were hovering just inside the door.

"They were dancing, and somebody tripped." Chromia said, watching as Ratchet gave Auri a lollipop. "She ended up on the bottom of the pile, and her door-wing got caught at an odd angle."

"And it hurts." Auri said unhappily before she stuck the candy in her mouth.

"I couldn't tell from the screaming." Ratchet said drily.

Auri pulled the lollipop from her mouth. "I overdid it." She confessed before sticking the candy back in her mouth. Chromia raised an optic-ridge.

"I have a mild pain-killer for you," Ratchet told Auri as he took out an injector. "It will dull the receptors, and then I take care of your wing-connectors without it hurting."

"Mo-ghay." Auri said around her candy. Prowl covered his optics.

"Goes just below your shoulder blade," he warned as he placed a hand on her shoulder.

The lollipop came out. "Will it hurt?" Auri asked anxiously.

"Not much." Ratchet said, "Eat your candy."

"Get it over with already!" Prowl burst out, the stress overwhelming him.

Auri squeaked in surprise at the feel of the needle, but it didn't really hurt. A moment later, the pain subsided from her back and door-wing connectors.

"That wasn't bad at all." Auri said, surprised.

"Did you hear that, Prowl?" Ratchet asked coaxingly.

"Yes." Prowl said, his optics still hidden, "Have you put it away yet?"

Ratchet put the injector away. "Yes, Prowl. It's gone from sight."

Prowl removed his hands from his optics and peeked at Auri. She smiled at him. "See, I'm okay." She told him.

"And it's just a mild sprain." Ratchet said. "Auri. You should be ashamed of putting up such a sparkling-ish fuss as you did."

"I am a little ashamed." Auri said.

"But she got a lollipop out of it." Prowl pointed out. He looked over at the twins. "A little shame may be worth a lollipop. Maybe if you howl a lot, Ratchet will give you candy, too." He teased.

Sunny's optics bugged, as did Sides'. Auri had told them about how differently Prowl was acting, but now they were witnessing it themselves. It was astonishing.

Prowl jumped off his berth and began to dance. "_On dah mic you will see / the people's champ that's me! Yeah! / Skibadee! Skibadanger!_"

The twins spluttered and then glitched out. Prowl stopped and stood still, watching with anticipation as the two wavered for a second before clattering to the floor.

He looked very satisfied, and a pleased smirk was on his face as he climbed back onto his berth.

"I'd been wanting to that." He explained. "I had often contemplated it but never could bring myself to do it any other time." Chromia, Ratchet, and Auri were all staring at him. He realized this when he glanced over at them.

"Ah." Said Ratchet. He was sure now; it was definitely time to take Prowl off the meds.

Prowl suddenly realized how completely off the wall his actions had been, and his face heated up.

He darted a glance over at the other Bots to see if they were still staring at him. They were, and he blushed harder. They were never going to forgot that, he knew.

"Y'know," Chromia said, "I've not seen him blush that hard since I walked in when Ironhide was helping him with his homework eons ago."

"Anatomy Class?" Ratchet guessed.

Chromia nodded with chuckle.

"You know how straightforward Ironhide is about everything." Prowl said accusingly.

Auri giggled. Ratchet chuckled at him, and Chromia laughed outright.

Prowl shook his head. "Some Bots…" he said with disbelief.

"I understand." Auri said promptly.

"You?" Prowl asked, "You were giggling."

"It was an understanding giggle."

Prowl smiled at her fondly. "Okay, just do not try using those two words together once I am back to my logical self."

"Yes, sir." Auri said.

Ratchet looked over at Prowl, wondering about the future, and then he began working on repairing Auri's wing-connector. Chromia watched for a few minutes, but then she started pace.

"Hey." Ratchet snapped his fingers at her. "No pacing."

"I'll pace if I want to." The femme retorted, arching an optic-ridge.

"Not in my Med-Bay, you won't." The medic replied, pointing a pair of needle-nosed pliers at her.

"Hi!" Flareup said, coming in.

"Careful-!" Prowl warned as she nearly stumbled over the twins.

"Ooooo…" She was intrigued. "What happened to them?" Her optics sparkled with anticipation when she saw that they seemed unharmed.

"Prowl danced and glitched out their logic processors." Chromia said, lower her head a little to hide the mischief that sparked in her optics.

"Danced?" Flareup was impressed, "Really, Prowl?"

"Yes, really…" The Second-in-Command admitted reluctantly.

"Was something like this," Chromia said, "_On dah mic you will see / the people's champ that's me! Yeah!_"

Ratchet stopped work to watch, and Auri plastered both hands over her mouth to keep from laughing. Flareup stared with disbelief.

Prowl stared with horror.

" _Skibadee! Skibadanger!_" Chromia finished, grinning.

"I did _**not**_ move my hips like _that_!" Prowl choked out.

"No. Not quite." Chromia said.

Prowl opened his mouth to protest further, but then he realized that she was teasing him. He shook his head. "Someday I will not fall for your teasing." He said.

"Maybe." Chromia said. Then she turned to Flareup. "Hey." She greeted. "Need something?"

Flareup smiled. "Just permission from the good doctor to let me go for a walk outside."

Ratchet raised a skeptical optic-ridge. "Just a stroll. Very slow. If you tear anything, it will be excruciatingly painful and hard to fix, and you will increase your confinement time, and"

"I get the point, Ratchet." Flareup said. "Slow walk. Nothing else."

"Alright." Ratchet said.

"I'll go out with you." Chromia said. "I have patrol soon, and I'm not allowed to pace in here."

"Rules." Flareup said.

"Take care, My Little One." Chromia told Auri. "I will see tonight when I get of patrol."

Auri instantly sat up. "You have patrol tonight?" she asked, concern crossing her face.

"Yes. Why?" Chromia asked, moving closer to her as she felt her femme-ling's stress increase.

"Ironhide has patrol tonight, too." Auri said anxiously.

Chromia shot Ratchet a quick look. Auri hated being left alone, and they both knew it. Chromia hugged Auri. "Tell you what. You can stay up as long as you want to, just as long as you're either in our quarters or in Med-Bay."

"I'll stay in Med-Bay." Auri said without hesitation.

"Okay." Chromia said. She planted a kiss on Auri's head. "Be nice to Ratchet and don't tease Prowl too much."

"Yes, ma'am." Auri said, smiling fondly at her guardian.

Chromia stepped away and then turned to find Prowl looking at her with a slightly sad look in his optics. "Prowl?" she asked.

Prowl got off his berth and came over to the blue femme. Then he lowered his head a little and gave her a hug, a good, long, tight hug.

"What's this for?" Chromia asked softly as she embraced him in return.

"Because you are very wonderful, and I will not be inclined to acknowledge it like this once the meds have worn off." Prowl answered.

"Oh…" Chromia murmured with understanding. "You are wonderful, too, Prowl." She told him gently. "We are fortunate to have you here on this base both as an officer and as a friend. Don't forget it, okay?"

"Okay." Prowl agreed. He let her go and gave her a smile.

Chromia cast once glance at Ratchet that told him life was rough at times, and then she headed out the door.

Flareup started after her.

"Flareup," Prowl suddenly, sounding like a mech inspired.

"Yeah…?" She said slowly as she turned to look at him.

"Before you go, may I borrow your car markers?" he sounded rather eager.

"My what?" Flareup asked. She exactly what he was talking about. Those markers were condemning evidence from a liaison prank.

"You know the ones," Prowl said, not a bit dampened. "You doodled all over a liaison's car with them three weeks ago."

"Allegedly." Flareup corrected.

"Yes, I know. May I?"

Flareup hesitated. It could be a trap to get her to hand over the evidence. She wasn't sure.

"Please?" Prowl coaxed.

She pursed her lips.

Prowl paused. Then he gave her an enticing look. "I'll grant you immunity for any past prank connected to the markers if you will let me borrow them." He offered.

Flareup thought this sounded good, but she still hesitated. Did he have authority to offer that while in Med-Bay?

Prowl cocked his head. He needed to offer something she couldn't turn down. He smiled. "What about this," he said, "I'll grant you immunity for any past prank connected to the markers _and_ let you help me with my prank."

"Is that _legal_?" Flareup asked, intrigued and impressed.

"I can do it sometimes." Prowl said. "Deal or no deal?"

"Uh…" The offer was irresistible, as was the mischievous look on the idolized commander's face. "Deal." Flareup said. She took out the markers and handed them over.

Prowl fairly grinned at the sight of them and then headed over to the twins.

"Really?" Flareup asked, delighted with the turning of the tables.

"Really." Prowl said. Then he turned to where Ratchet was finishing up Auri's wing-connector. "Do you want to help, too, Auri?" he asked.

Auri nodded, too amazed and excited to speak.

"Okay. We will wait for you." Prowl told her, "Are you almost done, Ratchet?"

"Yes. I'm done now." Ratchet said, holding back a chuckle. "There you go, Auri. Be careful."

"Yes, sir." Auri said. Then she slipped carefully off the berth and joined her comrades in crime.

Prowl tugged the Sides off Sunny so that they were both lying flat on their backs. "Okay." He said, sitting down between them. "I am going to draw on their chest-plating, and you can do whatever else you please on the rest of them."

"Mm," Flareup smirked.

"Within reason." Prowl added with a smirk of his own.

"What are you going to draw?" Auri asked.

"A butterfly on each of them."

Flareup giggled. "Really?"

"Yes. Because they are always flitting around." Prowl explained, and the femmes giggled at the description.

"Hm." Auri said. "Maybe I'll draw some flowers to go with the butterflies."

"Sunflowers on Sunny, perhaps?" Prowl asked.

Auri giggled. Then she nodded. This was so off the wall for Prowl, but it was going to be great fun.

"Mmm… now, what color?" Prowl mused. "Ah, black. A Swallowtail butterfly for Sunny. And a Monarch one for Sides. That should do nicely." He got out the black marker and began carefully outlining a swallowtail butterfly on Sunny's chest.

The two femmes watched for a while, fascinated. Then Auri got a green marker and began drawing a twining vine up Sides' arm. Flareup chuckled and found a blue marker and began to put morning-glory flowers on the vine.

Ratchet held back his laughter and quietly took some pictures of the shenanigans.

"Ohhh…!" Auri exclaimed softly. "Prowl… you draw wonderfully."

Prowl smiled. "Thank-you," he said sincerely, sending a gentle look her way.

Flareup looked over from doodling on Sides' hand. "That's impressive." She said. And it certainly was. The wings were shaped perfectly, and Prowl was carefully adding the stripes, making them look like the real thing as much as possible.

"Thank-you." He said, smiling.

"That's talent." Flareup added.

Prowl looked over at her work. "You are not bad yourself." He said with a slight teasing tone.

"This was hard work." Flareup said, pretending to be insulted.

"Well here is a nice star so you will know that it is good." Prowl said, leaning over and drawing a quick five-pointed star on her hand.

It was startling behavior, but Flareup liked Prowl's familiarity and was quick to respond. "Thank-you." she said. Then she boldly leaned over and drew a smiley-face on Prowl's forearm.

He looked down at it. "You marked my paint." He said, not sure what to think.

"You marked mine." Flareup said, grinning at him. She was loving this.

Prowl took a gray marker and shook it while watching her. Then he begin shading the butterfly on Sunny.

Flareup watched him for another moment, and then she turned back to Sides and began some scroll-work up his arm. It was tricky work, but the look of horror on the twin's face would be worth it. She smiled to herself. Then she yelped as a wet marker touched her back.

Turning, she found Prowl with a smile on his face.

"You jumped a foot." He said.

"Not funny." Flareup said, trying not to grin.

"Yeah, you made it smudge." He said, reaching over. Flareup wasn't sure what to think, but she let him rub the mark off.

::Ratchet?:: she asked over the intercom.

::Yes?:: Ratchet replied.

::This is a little weird.::

::Yes, it is. It's only temporary, though. He'll go back to being logical and no-touch once I take him off the antivirus.::

::Okay.::

A giggle from Auri brought Flareup's attention back to Prowl.

"Eh?" Prowl said to Auri. Flareup turned and saw Auri nod with a grin.

"Wwwhat did you do?" Flareup asked as her optics widened.

Prowl chuckled and got another marker.

"Auri?" Flareup asked.

"He drew a little butterfly." Auri said.

"On _me?_"

"Uh-huh!" Auri said, delighted with the look of utter shock on her sister's face.

"Nobody draws butterflies on me!" Flareup gasped. Ratchet wondered for a second if she might glitch out, but the next moment she was grabbing a marker and stepping over Sideswipe to get to Prowl.

"No, no." Prowl shook his head at her, holding up a hand to stop her.

She grabbed his fingers tightly and began to write on his arm. He grunted and pulled away when she finally released his fingers. Then he examined his arm.

"'Have a bright sunny day.'" He read. "_What?_"

"Ha!" Flareup said.

"Why on earth would you write that on me?" The Commander gasped.

"Because." She said with a final tone. It had been the first phrase that she'd thought of. It wasn't the best, but the result was amusing. Auri was giggling quite hard in fact.

"Mmm…." Prowl looked skeptical for a moment. "Don't laugh at me, Auri." He said.

"And why not?" Auri asked, holding her giggles back to hear his answer.

"Because I'll draw on you, too, if you do." He decided.

The mere thought of it make Auri laugh.

"Ohhhhh, Okay. You asked for it." Prowl moved over closer to her. He was going to write 'Ironhide's Little Scamp' on her arm, but her optics caught his attention at the last moment. He put a finger under her chin and looked into those optics. There was so much in those optics. So much…

Auri blinked at the intensity of Prowl's look. The blink refocused him, reminded him of reality, and he lightened his look. He gave her a little smile and then drew a small star just below and to the side of her left optic, taking care to make it as neat and uniform as possible.

Flareup watched warily. This seemed a little different from him sketching a butterfly on her back. ::Ratchet…?::

::I see it.:: Ratchet replied. He'd been keeping a close optic on the mischief.

"There." Prowl said softly, finishing the star. He needed his logical self back, he knew. He needed it soon before he started to feel too much.

"Are we going to do the backs of the twins?" Auri asked, seeming quite normal.

Prowl looked down at Sunny. "We are." He said.

They rose, and Auri helped him roll Sunny over, taking care to not scuff the fresh marker.

Prowl then took his marker of choice and cocked his head.

"Whatchya gonna draw?" Flareup asked.

"I think I am going to write…" Prowl said. "Yes." He decided with a little smile. He knelt down and then wrote across Sunny's back.

_Inferno is red,  
Tracksie is blue.  
I'm a twin,  
So I'm one of two. _

The femmes cracked up and laughed so much that Ratchet came over out of curiosity. Prowl looked up at him. Ratchet read the rhyme to himself in disbelief then chuckled softly. "You do beat everything, Prowl."

"I know." Prowl said. "I am going to hate myself for it later, though, I am certain."

Ratchet reached down and patted his shoulder before moving away. Chromia was right. Life was rough.

Prowl turned to Sides and drew his butterfly, and then Auri helped him roll the twin over.

"Are you going to put the same rhyme on Sides?" Auri asked.

"Ah… Let us see…" Prowl said. "How about this,"

_I'm a twin,  
So I'm one of two,  
Mess with my brother,  
And I'll mess up you. _

Auri grinned. "I like it!"

Prowl cocked his head. "I am not sure that I do… I messed with his brother. It could hold some serious implications for me."

"Hey, there are three of us and only two of them." Flareup pointed out.

"Two wounded femmes and me… against the warrior twins? Oh, yes, that sounds fair." Prowl shook his head.

"Oh, they're coming back online." Auri said, jumping up. She dashed over to a berth. Prowl dashed after her, and Flareup hurried behind them cautiously, taking care to not upset her injured back.

Prowl lifted Auri onto his berth and then helped Flareup up before scrambling up himself.

"Here," he shoved the markers at Flareup.

"Oh, noooo way! You keep them!"

He shoved them into subspace quickly and then took out a 3D holographic game.

"Your turn, Auri." He said as he scattered the pieces.

Auri moved a piece.

"Good move…" Flareup said, "If you want me to win, that is."

"It's a trap." Auri said smugly.

"WHOA! WHAT?" Sides yelled.

"AIIIIIIGH!" Sunny squealed. "_AIGH!_" he squealed again with more force and at a higher pitch.

Flareup partially doubled over with suppressed laughter, and Auri's door-wings shook as she held back her own laughter. Prowl grinned.

"EEEEAH!" Sunny squealed. "What did you do to us?" he squeaked, staring down at horror at his formally beautiful paint job.

"Nothing that a little soap and scrubbing will not remove." Prowl said easily.

"_Butterflies?_"Sides asked, clearly disturbed.

"Because you two are always flitting around." Prowl explained.

Sunny turned to stare at Prowl with shock, and Sides started laughing.

"What?" Sunny spun around and glared at his brother.

"Inferno's red, Tracksie is blue! I'm a twin, so I'm one of two!" Sides recited, laughing.

Sunny stared at him like he'd lost it.

"It's on your back!" Sides explained before laughter took a firm grip on him.

Sunny craned around but couldn't get a good view of it. Then he looked suspicious and took Sides by the arm.

"Huh?" Sides asked, still chuckling.

Sunny looked at his back and smiled.

"What?" Side sobered.

"You have a rhyme, too, Sides." Sunny said, keeping a straight face. Now it was Sides' turn to crane around.

"Well?" he asked when he realized he couldn't see much.

"'I'm a twin, so I'm one of two; mess with my brother, and I'll mess up you.'" Sunny read.

Sides grinned. "Okay, who wrote that?"

"It's Prowl's handwriting." Sunny said.

"I say it's revenge time." Sides declared.

"Okay…" Sunny nodded his head. Then he spotted several markers that had rolled under the edge of the counter. He stooped and picked them up. "Uh-huh." He said, giving one of them to his brother.

"It's doodle time." Sides said, grinning.

"Eep!" Auri scrambled over and hid behind Prowl before peeking out playfully at the twins.

"We are not defenseless, you know." Prowl said, handing a couple markers to Flareup then giving two to Auri and keeping two for himself.

"Marker War!" Auri yelled, jumping off the berth and dashing out to run past Sunny and leave a red marker streak on his side. Sides quickly dashed after her, intent on making a scribble on her arm. She squealed and dodged around berths.

Sunny run past Prowl's berth and made a quick line on Prowl's leg and then ducked Flareup's blue marker. Prowl jumped off the berth and chased him with an orange marker.

"Corner him!" Flareup yelled, standing on her knees on the berth. She knew she couldn't run around, but she could at least cheer on her fellows.

Auri dashed forwards to help Prowl, but Sunny intercepted her and scooped her up and spun to face Prowl. "Another step and she gets a green star." He threatened, holding the tip of the green marker very close to Auri's shoulder.

Prowl frowned, suddenly not enjoying the game so much. He capped the orange marker and stepped back. Sunny grinned and released Auri before sprinting to the other side of the room.

"Arrrr…!" Auri growled, running after him. He glanced back and tripped. The next moment he was on the floor, and Auri jumped on top of him. "I got you, Sunny!" She crowed, scribbling zigzags up his side.

"Owwww…!" Sunny moaned theatrically. "I'm dying, I'm dyyyyinnnng…! Killed by marker-r-r-r-rr…"

Auri grinned as he garbled his "last" words.

"You are badly out-numbered, Sideswipe," Prowl said, waving his marker, "I suggest you surrender, and we may treat you less severely."

"Basically, though, it's unconditional surrender." Flareup said cheerfully.

"Look, I'm dead; do you have to keep drawing on me?" Sunny asked.

"Yep." Auri said, grinning.

"What if…"

"No 'what if's, Sides; it's unconditional." Prowl said.

"Awww… Okay. I surrender." Sides shook his head in mock despair.

"Hahaha….!" Flareup got down off the berth, holding her marker in a threatening manner. "Now we play a little game called 'torture the pr-'"

"Flare! We are Autobots; we do not do that." Prowl said.

"Couldn't we be rouge Bots?"

"No." Prowl was firm.

"Dude. Boring." Flareup rolled her optics. "Come on, Sides, I'm stealing you."

"From maximum security?" Prowl asked.

"Yup."

"And doing what with me?" Sides asked as he allowed Flareup to lead him to a different berth.

"And torturing you."

"Flareup!" Prowl objected. "No. We are Autobots; we do not do that."

"But I'm a double agent. So I can."

"Flareup. You play nicely, or you cannot play with us." Prowl tucked his chin down ever-so-slightly as he did when he was most stern.

Flareup sighed. "Okay." She said. She knew when Prowl wasn't going to be negotiable.

"Sides will have a fair trial and then a quick execution, and that will be the end of it." Prowl decreed.

"Whoa! Whoa, whoa." Sides protested, "How can it be fair if you've already decided that I'm getting executed?"

"Oh. That was thoughtless of me. We'll just skip the trial. Flareup,"

"Yes, sir?" Flareup said, but then she howled in mock pain from a marker stroke from Sides.

"Escape!" Sides cheered as he ran from her. Then he ran into the corner of a berth, stumbled and fell. "Oww…!" he gasped, clutching his hip. "Ngh! Ow…" he groaned.

"You twins are awfully clumsy as of late." Auri said, concern lacing her tone as she rose to go over to him. Sunny got up, looking like a page from a two-year's coloring book.

Ratchet helped Sides up and seated him on the berth. "Avert your optics, femmes." He directed then removed the twin's hip plating. "That's bruised badly." He murmured, seeing discoloration. "This cream should ease the pain, though." He pulled a small cube from subspace and opened it before offering it to Sides. Sides dipped his fingers in and then rubbed the substance over the bruise. He winced, and Sunny winced. Prowl frowned in sympathy.

"Are you going to be okay?" Auri asked, her optics still firmly affixed on the wall.

"Yeah, just fine." Sides managed to say, "I'll just be in a little discomfort. I ran into this berth pretty hard."

Ratchet considered a few things regarding clumsiness. There were a number of things that it could be a symptom of. One was lack of recharge. "Have you twins been getting enough recharge lately?" he asked.

"Um," Sunny said. He was standing to Prowl's right. "Well, probably not quite enough."

"I suggest you get a little more rest tonight."

"We'll try to." Sides said.

"If not, I can have you brought in and required to rest." Ratchet told them.

"That's allowed?" Sunny asked, astonished.

"Yes. There were some complicated things that caused that to come into effect." Ratchet said. Elita and Prowl had been concerned about Prime overworking himself. And Prime and Ironhide had been concerned about Prowl overworking himself. And Ironhide and Prowl had been concerned about Bee overworking himself. And so on.

"Wow." Sunny said. He capped his pink marker and shook his head. "That's rather serious."

"You know," Ratchet said, "I should have it be quiet time now. Naps are not necessarily required, but everybody must be lying down on a berth and not talking."

"What about us?" Sunny asked.

"Yes, you, too. You're in for logic short-outs."

"Okay."

Within a few minutes, a pleasant hush had fallen over Med-Bay, and Ratchet smiled fondly over the five young bots. They had all opted to stay in this main room. The twins were sharing a berth, cuddled up like sleeping kittens. Flareup had stretched out on her side and looked content with a book data-pad in her hand. Auri had pushed a berth against the wall, and she was snuggled up against the wall, soon to fall into recharge. Prowl was lying on his belly with his chin resting thoughtfully on his clasped hands.

Ratchet was fairly certain Prowl would nod off into recharge within a few minutes despite his intentions to stay awake.

Ratchet glanced over at Flareup again. If her optics were any indication, she probably wouldn't finish the chapter that she was reading.

Quiet. Ratchet liked it.

He just hoped they would all stay in recharge long enough for him to get some work done.


	72. Chapter 72, Inferno, Twins, Goodnights

**Chapter 72**

**Inferno, Twins, Good-Nights, & Fluff**

"You have backup plans?" Lennox asked Amy as he glanced at his watch.

"I can work on my typed reports." Amy said. "_If_ my laptops are working,"

Lennox pursed his lips slightly. "I've got half an hour before I've got to report in. That should be enough time to take your tech over to the technical center. Can't guarantee you'll have 'em back soon, but at least you could get some answers. And borrow a laptop to use while they get checked."

"That sounds good…"

"'Kay." He said. "It's a plan then." Lennox sent a text, and then they headed out of the lounge, Lennox opening and holding the door for her and then falling in place beside her. He checked his phone screen once and smiled ever so slightly.

They went out to the sidewalk by the road. Amy was about to ask about transportation when a fire truck pulled up.

"Hey you." Lennox greeted. "Still keeping out of trouble?"

"Aw, shore." The truck replied.

"I heard something about illegal fireworks being brought on Base." Lennox quipped, shooting Amy a mischievous grin.

The truck chuckled but didn't admit to anything. "You gonna ride or just stand there 'n' jaw?"

Lennox chuckled and stepped up to open the passenger door for Amy. "Have you met Agent Sora?" he asked as he opened the door.

The door jerked from his hand and slammed shut. "I've heard enough about her." The easy-going tone was gone.

Lennox's chin lifted a little. "So you're going to be ungracious and rude?" he challenged.

A tense silence followed. Amy looked away, wishing they had taxis or something, or that that Hound would come back.

"Agent Sora has cause Auri a whole lot of stress and grief. I don't hold with supporting or aiding an agent who does such." The truck said grimly after a few moments.

Amy opened her mouth to defend herself, but Lennox spoke first. "Does this personal belief override the Autobot morals of patience and graciousness?" he asked.

"That is between Autobots and those who wish to work amicably with us." The truck ground out quietly. "Decepticons and those who wish to trouble us we shun or fight if necessary."

"Oh, so, you're putting Agent Sora with the Decepticons?"

"She has caused grief, more grief than joy. I merely suggest that she is one who wishes to trouble us."

"Ah. So, out of spite for us and because she's a malicious sociopath, she left her cozy apartment in Boston and boarded a flight on a couple hours of sleep, just so that she could harass us while dealing with jet-lag and sleep deprivation."

"That's… out of proportion." The truck said quietly.

"I'll say." Lennox said pointedly. The truck didn't have a reply. "You gonna open a door and give us ride?" he asked.

The truck hesitated. Then he opened his doors without a word. Amy climbed in, and Lennox went over to the driver's side and climbed in.

"Ever been in a fire truck before?" Lennox asked as the truck started forward.

"I got to climb in one at a show when I was small." Amy replied, smiling a little the memory. She'd accidentally activated the siren. She'd been horrified and startled, but the fireman had been nice about it and said it was okay. "Oh, do you need my address?" she asked the truck.

"I know the area, but the house number would be helpful." Came the reply.

She told him the house number.

"Okay." He said and then said nothing more.

"I forgot to introduce you two." Lennox said. "Agent Sora this is Inferno. Inferno, Agent Amy Sora."

"Pleased to meet you, Inferno."

"Hello, Agent."

"He's one of the few mech's lucky enough to have a spark-mate." Lennox said, "Don't know if you've met her yet, but her name's Firestar."

"I've not met her. I've only met Auri, Chromia, Elita, and Flareup."

"You've met Flareup?" He asked with a grin.

"Yes. She seems like she'd be interesting to get to know better, but I doubt I have much of a chance."

"It would take time." Lennox said, nodding in agreement. He kept up the talk until Inferno pulled up to her apartment. Then Inferno's door opened, and Amy climbed down and hurried up the walk and went inside.

"I'm sorry, Will." Inferno said gruffly.

"I'm not the one you were disgustingly rude to." Lennox pointed out in a quiet tone. He wasn't going to go easy on the Bot about his behavior.

Amy came back a couple moments later with her two laptops. She put them on the seat, and Lennox pulled them over so that she could climb up. She settled down and buckled her seatbelt.

"I was rather rude earlier, Agent Sora." Inferno admitted. "I apologize for that." He said quietly.

"It's alright." Amy said kindly. After that, things were more comfortable during the short trip to the technical center.

"Do you want me to wait for you guys?" Inferno asked as he opened his doors.

"Yes, please, if you can." Lennox said as he climbed down. He and Amy went across the sidewalk, and Lennox opened the tinted glass door of the building. It was cool indoors and the place had a quiet but busy air to it. Amy followed Lennox as he made his way through several corridors to a certain door. This door opened into a big room, one with countless computers and several people.

The nearest man looked up when Amy and Lennox entered, and a smile of recognition touched his face as he came over. "Hello, Lennox." He greeted, adjusting his glasses.

"Hello," Lennox said and then gave out introductions. The man was Dustin Hoff, one of NEST's computer technicians. He nodded to Amy. "Agent Sora has been having some odd kind of difficulty with her company laptop." Lennox explained, "It seemed to have a virus on it, but when Ultra Magnus scanned it, it showed up clean."

Dustin pursed his lips. "Um… did he access the…" what he said sounded like a different language to Amy.

She shrugged. "I have no idea what he did. I brought the laptops with me." She offered them to him.

He looked relieved and took them. "I can check them out and run some full diagnostics on them if you like."

"That would be much appreciated." Amy told him.

"Okay. Ah… This could take an hour or a couple days… let me get you a spare to use while we have yours." He hurried off. Amy smiled gratefully at Lennox, and he nodded.

Dustin was back a couple moments later, "Here you go. It's a little older than yours are, but it's…"

"Simple English," Lennox said,

Dustin grinned. "It's not too different from what you're used to." He said, giving the laptop to Amy.

"Thank-you very much." Amy said.

He nodded, "You're welcome."

After leaving Amy's phone number with Dustin and thanking him again, Amy and Lennox headed back outdoors.

"Ah-mm." Lennox said when he saw Inferno. The Bot had transformed and was completely preoccupied with kissing a red femme. Amy chuckled.

"That's Firestar. They're pretty timid about showing affection." Lennox whispered, teasing. "Hey!" he called, "I've got to report in four minutes."

Firestar pulled away and smiled at Lennox. "I'll take you to report. Inferno will take the Agent back to her place."

"Okay. That sounds good." Lennox said. Firestar transformed into a stylish pickup truck and swung open a door. "See you later." Lennox said to Amy.

"Later. Thank-you again." Amy told him.

"No problem." Lennox said, climbing in.

"Can I run the sirens?" Firestar asked playfully.

"Nooo." Lennox told her then closed the door.

Amy watched as the truck pulled away, and then she turned her attention to Inferno. He transformed and opened a door. Amy climbed in, and the door shut. Once Amy had her seatbelt buckled, Inferno pulled away. Inferno talked to her a little bit and told her a few things about the buildings that they passed. Amy thanked Inferno once he stopped at her apartment, and then she headed indoors as he drove away. Then she settled down to type up her reports.

OoOoOoOoOoOoO

Prowl never did doze off… too many thoughts kept him awake. It had been rather audacious to draw on Auri's face, now that he thought of it. He hadn't meant to… He hoped she'd not thought anything of it. She hadn't _seemed_ to. She had blinked… but that was a natural reaction to being stared at. He hoped it hadn't been too strange of him to stare… He hadn't been able to _not_ stare, though; her optics had just captivated his attention. …so much of everything wonderful was held in those optics. He'd noticed before, but he'd never acted differently about it. Complicated… His life had to be the most complicated of all the Bots' lives on this Base. That was an exaggeration…

"Oh!" Flareup yelped, jerking her head up. Prowl looked over.

Ratchet hid a smile at the femme's surprise.

Flareup carefully sat up and looked around. "I didn't plan on _that_ nap." She muttered in amazement. "Hi, Ratchet." She greeted, getting off the berth slowly.

"Hello." He said.

"Imma go for a walk now, okay?"

Ratchet nodded. "Okay." He said. He wanted to remind her to be careful and to walk slowly, and to stay near the Med-Bay, and half-a-dozen other things. But, he knew that she knew and would appreciate him not telling her just what to do.

Flareup had left the room during his musings, but she stuck her head back in. "Hey, Ratchet?"

"Yes?"

"Are you alright?" she asked.

"Yes… why?" it worried him when Bots asked if he was alright.

"You just didn't nag, so I wasn't sure."

Prowl half-smiled, and Ratchet chuckled. "I was thinking you were going to appreciate me letting you get away without a dozen reminders."

"Oh, I did. I just had to make sure it wasn't because you were succumbing to something."

Ratchet chuckled and shook his head. "No. Thank-you, though."

Flareup smiled and then went on her way. Ratchet smiled as he turned back to his work. It was nice to know that someone had some concern for him. Prowl resumed his thoughts.

About half an hour later, Sunny awoke with a gasp. "Sides!" He punched his brother lightly. "Wake up! _Wake up!_ We've got patrol in five- SCRAP!" He stared at his body.

"Huh…? What's the… uh… mm…"

"WAKE UP!" Sunny yelled at him.

"What?" Auri yelped, waking up, and Prowl jerked his head up and whipped out his stun-gun.

"Sunny… you're a mess." Sides said, staring groggily at his brother's armor.

"We have patrol in four minutes!"

"Oooo… slag."

"Exactly! Let's go!" Sunny headed for the door.

Side jumped off the berth and dashed after his brother. "Bye, Ratchet, Auri, and Prowl. Prowl?" he stopped. "Why's there-"

"COME ON!" Sunny yelled, grabbing his brother's arm and jerking him back into motion. They were gone a moment later.

Auri shook her head. "I was recharging really well." She said, "Silly twins."

"Yes, silly twins." Prowl agreed. "I was _almost_ in recharge."

"Ratchet!" Sunny frantically stuck his head in the room. "Would you please, please, _please_, tell Magnus that we will be thirty minutes late? Please? We cannot work like this…"

"Please?" Sides added, widening his optics like a desperate sparkling.

Ratchet chuckled. "You will owe me."

"We know. We'll hurry!"

"THANK-YOU!" The twins were gone again.

Ratchet shook his head. "I'll be back." He told Prowl and Auri. "Magnus is going to argue; it would probably work better face-to-face."

"Best of luck to you." Prowl said.

Ratchet headed for the door. "Ironhide!"

"Ratchet," Ironhide said, amused at the medic's greeting.

"Ironhide, would you be inclined to doing a favor?" Ratchet had an idea.

"It depends." Ironhide said, cocking his head.

"You do not want to do it." Prowl called. Auri muffled a giggle.

Ratchet sent him a quick frown before turning back to Ironhide. "The twins are going to be half an hour late for patrol. I was going to intercede for them to Magnus…" he trailed off as Ironhide shook his head. "Aw, come on, Ironhide."

Ironhide put a hand on Ratchet's shoulder. "I would if I didn't have my patrol in ten minutes. I just came by to check on the little door-wingers."

"We are not that little-!" Prowl called. Auri looked at herself. She was little.

"Okay." Ratchet sighed. "The things I do for those twins…" he muttered as he headed for the door.

Ironhide grinned. "How are my younglings?" he asked Prowl and Auri.

"Not that young." Prowl said with a touch of exasperation as he got up.

Auri smothered a giggle into a squeak. Ironhide smiled, happy that she was in a cheerful mood.

"How is my Auri?" Ironhide asked her.

"G-good." Auri managed to answer without laughing.

Prowl turned to see what she found so funny, but then Ironhide started chuckling.

"What?" Prowl asked, looking around, "What is so funny?"

"It's not _actually _funny…" Auri said half apologetically and a little abashed.

"Then why were you laughing? That is confusing to me." Prowl said, frowning.

"Umm…" Auri wasn't sure how to answer.

"Prowl," Ironhide said, a smile not quite hidden, "I just have one question."

"Alright," Prowl said,

"Why is there a pink star on your leg?"

"_What?_" Prowl yelped, stiffening.

"Upper right." Ironhide directed.

Prowl covered the star with his hand as his face warmed up. "I do not… Sunstreaker!" He exclaimed. "It was Sunny. He was standing right beside me with a pink marker in his hand." He frowned, "The receptors in this area are dulled for the injections, that's how he got away with it."

"Ah." Ironhide wanted to laugh so badly, but he held back for Prowl's sake.

"I need a wet cloth…"

"I'll get you one." Auri said, slipping off her berth and heading over to where Ratchet kept a variety of cloths. She found one, took it to the sink, and then ran a little hot water over it. She wrung it so that it wouldn't drip, and then she brought it over to Prowl.

"Thank-you." Prowl said, taking it as she gave it to him. He hesitated. He didn't want to wash in front of the other bots.

"We had marker war with the twins." Auri told Ironhide, grabbing his attention immediately. She moved a little ways away, and Ironhide stepped over to stay engaged. She told him about the escapade in short while Prowl scrubbed the star with all his might.

It seemed like only a few moments passed, but Ironhide watched the time, and he knew when he had to leave.

"I'll see you later, My Auri," he told his femme-ling as he hugged her.

"Okay." Auri said, smiling as she pressed her head against his.

He gave her a kiss and then turned to Prowl. "Did you manage to salvage your pride?"

"Yes." Prowl said. "Please do not mention it."

"I won't." Ironhide told him, hugging him. "Behave yourselves until Ratchet comes back." He said then headed for the door.

Auri laughed softly as she sat down on Prowl's berth.

"Oh, now what?" Prowl asked, concerned that it might be another troubling thing.

"'_Children behave, That's what they say when we're together._'" Auri sang, smiling.

Prowl chuckled softly. "We do get that often, do we not?"

Auri nodded. Prowl fell quiet as he looked up the song.

"Of course, I know why they say it to me." Auri said, "I'm so little, and I am still rather young and under guardianship. But why you?"

Prowl looked over at her. What was she talking about? Oh… "Ironhide used to be my guardian eons ago." He said. "I suppose he still thinks of me as his youngling. He does tend to be protective and possessive. That is why he says it to me."

"You are the Second-in-Command now, though!"

Prowl laughed softly. "Some things do not make a difference to Ironhide. Even when you are grown and gone from his guardianship, he will still care deeply for you and remain protective of you. There are some feelings that never go away…"

Auri wondered what to say next. She looked down at her little feet.

Prowl got up and went over to a cabinet. "Do you need some Energon?" he asked over his shoulder.

"Yes, please." Auri answered. She was going to ask how long it would be until he could come back to the office, but then she realized that she would have been told if he'd known.

Prowl dug to the back of the cabinet and found the regular, non-med-grade Energon. He set two cubes of it on the counter and then opened a door and found the flavors and metallic powders that the Bots liked to add to their Energon.

Auri looked over when he didn't return immediately. He was mixing something in their Energon. Curiosity getting the best of her, Auri slipped off the berth and went over. Her optics took in the various containers on the counter, and then she glanced up to Prowl.

"You did not want yours plain, did you?" he asked.

"Flavor is good." She said. She hadn't known that Prowl knew how to make Energon special like Ironhide did.

"Do you like it more sweet…?"

Auri nodded. "I like it more sweet." She said, watching him, fascinated by this previously unknown skill. He took longer with the process than Ironhide did, but he seemed better at it and more particular about how he did it. He finally finished and looked to Auri.

"Go sit," he told her, and she went obediently to the berth. He brought the cubes over and gave hers a subtle shake. It sparkled brilliantly and turned rose colored for a moment before changing to a soft orangey color that faded to violet.

Auri watched in wonder and delight, rewarding Prowl for his effort. He loved the little o-shape her mouth would make when she was amazed at something new. She smiled up at him when her Energon stabilized.

"That was wonderful!" she told him, her tone one of soft excitement.

"Thank-you." Prowl said, ducking his head slightly. "Let us hope its taste is as satisfactory." He added.

Auri giggled and then took a sip. "Mmmm…! It is wonderful." She marveled after swallowing.

"Good." He was content now.

"It's some of the best ever." Auri added after a few more sips.

"I am glad." Prowl turned as he heard the Med-Bay door.

Ratchet came in a moment later looking rather exasperated. "I argued with that mech until the twins showed up." He said. "You got dinner. Good. I should… Did Flareup come back?"

Prowl looked at Auri, and she looked back. "I do not know." Prowl said. Auri shook her head.

Ratchet headed for the door and nearly ran into Flareup. "You alright?" He asked.

"Only late." Flareup said defensively, going past him and heading over to the berth she'd napped on earlier.

Ratchet frowned. "It's alright, Flareup." He told her gently as she picked up her data-pad. "I was just concerned."

She turned and gave him a bit of a smile. "Sorry, I guess I was a bit riled at the thought of getting called down."

"It's understandable." Ratchet told her kindly. "I wasn't going to scold, though."

"Thanks." She said, rather surprised. She sat down.

"Do you need dinner?" Ratchet asked her. She nodded, and he got her some med-grade.

"Thank-you…" she murmured tiredly.

"You're welcome." Ratchet said gently.

After the Energon was finished, Prowl helped Ratchet clean the empty cubes and put them away. Then Prowl took out a board game. Auri began inspecting the playing pieces for the one that she wanted.

"Are you on?" he asked Flareup.

She smiled tiredly but shook her head. "I'm too tired… I've got to recharge soon." She said.

Auri went over and hugged her. "Good night," she told her, "Recharge well so you can get better soon."

"Will do." Flareup told her. She let her go and straightened to find Prowl rather near, waiting for her.

"Good night, Flareup." He told her, giving her a hug.

"Good night, Prowl." She replied softly. It felt so good to hold him for a moment. "Today was lots of fun." She told him as he let her go and stepped back.

"It was." He said with a nod. His optics held hers and told her that he would treasure it for a long, long time to come. She hugged him a second then and then went on to her room.

"Ratchet?" Prowl asked.

"Yes?"

"Would you please tell the twins to come by after their patrol?"

"I will, Prowl." Ratchet told him.

The two door-wingers sat on Prowl's berth and played a quiet game to wind down for the evening. Sunny and Sides came in a little later.

"What is it, Prowl?" Sunny asked, trying to sound innocent without sounding too innocent.

"Nothing serious." Prowl assured him, getting off his berth and going over to them. "I just wanted to say that today was fun. I enjoyed it, and you twins were a great part of it. Life on NEST Base would not be the same without you two. I... I am glad we have you mechs."

Sunny and Sides suddenly felt a little choked up.

"We're glad we have you, too, Prowl." Sides managed to say.

Sunny nodded quickly. Prowl stepped over and gave him a hug. And then he gave Sides a hug.

"Have a good night." He told them. "Recharge well so Ratchet does not have to drag you in, okay?"

"Okay." Sides said.

"You got it." Sunny said. Then the twins went and hugged Auri good night before going back to their quarters.

OoOoOoOoOoOoOoO

"Well…" Ratchet said, approaching Prowl's berth as Prowl and Auri finished a game. "I know Chromia told you that you could stay up as late as you wanted, but I don't think that is a good idea." He told Auri.

Auri looked down. It was pretty late. And it was especially late for a week-night. Ordinarily, she would have been in recharge two hours ago. She was feeling tired, she realized.

She looked up at Ratchet with a fond little smile, "Okay, Ratchet." She said. She wasn't excited about going to bed, but she wasn't going to fight him.

"I'll prepare a room for you while you say your goodnights." He told her. She thanked him as he left.

Auri slipped off the berth. "Good night, Prowl." She said, looking gently up at him.

Prowl got off the berth and stood in front of her. "Good night," he said. "I do not know what it will be like in the morning-"

"Sh," Auri hushed him. "It will be alright, Prowl."

"But,"

"Sh," Auri hushed him again. "Do not spoil now by worrying about a later that you can do nothing about." She told him gently.

"Wise words from you?" he teased softly.

"I have a few." She said, smiling.

Prowl didn't know what to say next. Words… words… Um… He smiled at her. "I think you have more than a few wise words." He said.

Auri giggled softly. "You're funny when you don't know what to say." She told him.

"It was that obvious?"

She nodded, trying not to smile, but smiling anyway. "You shift your wings like this," she lifted hers slightly, "and blink twice before saying anything."

"I… did not know that." How much _did_ she know about his body language, he wondered in astonishment. It was almost disconcerting.

"I work with you for hours on end." Auri explained gently, "It serves me well to learn your nonverbal communication. I believe it's saved me from trouble more than once, and it's been helpful to you as well."

"I am glad then. …that you are aware of something I never noticed."

"You notice the things you need, Prowl, and only those things." Auri explained, smiling. "If you noticed every movement you made, you'd become self-conscious, and that wouldn't to do well for your job."

"You _psychoanalyze_ me, too?" he asked, amazed.

Auri giggled softly, now a little self conscious herself. "Maybe a little." She admitted, ducking her head.

"You are a remarkable little femme." He said softly.

She blinked up at him. "I thought you told Ironhide we weren't that little?" she teased.

Prowl hesitated. "I did tell him we weren't _that_ little; I did not say we weren't little."

Auri smiled. "A very smooth answer."

"Thank-you." He said. "I just came up with it at the last second."

Auri laughed gently at that, but then she grew serious. "Today was fun, Prowl… Thank-you for your part in it."

"You're… welcome," he said softly. "I… thank-you for your part in it. It wouldn't have been the same without you." He hoped his cool logic wouldn't hurt her tomorrow…

"Prowl," she drew his attention back to the present. She shook her head. "Don't fret about tomorrow, okay?"

"Okay." He said, bowing his head to her command a little. "Any further orders?"

She smiled, and her optics twinkled. "No, just don't fret about tomorrow."

"Very well." He agreed. Ratchet was taking a long time, but Prowl knew he would be back some time… probably soon. "Well," how did he say good night?

"Well?"

"Good night, Auri." He said.

"Good night, Prowl." She said, stepping forward and hugging him. "May you recharge well."

"May you as well." He told her. He supposed he had to let go of her...

She giggled softly.

"What?" he asked, dying to know.

"I bet you were a cuddly sparkling." She said, grinning.

Prowl choked. Auri giggled a little more at him and hugged him some more.

Ratchet came in a few minutes later and looked over at them. Prowl noticed his presence and looked up, meeting his optics.

"Her room's ready." Ratchet told him.

"Alright." Prowl said, shifting his hold on Auri. "Auri?" She was like dead weight. "She's already in recharge." He realized aloud.

Ratchet went over and gently picked her up. He carried her to the room and carefully laid her down on the berth, watching out for her wings. He laid a light blanket over and then turned and saw Prowl in the doorway, watching.

Ratchet patted Auri's shoulder and then left. Prowl moved away from the door to left him by.

"Ratchet,"

He stopped and turned to look at the younger mech.

"Good night, Ratchet." Prowl him. "And thank-you for you care."

"Good night, Prowl." Ratchet said. Prowl hugged him on impulse and then went off to his own room.

OoOoOoOoOoOoO

Ironhide came into Med-Bay and found it quiet and dimly lit. Bots were asleep, he supposed. He just needed to find Auri so that he could take her home.

He stopped when he saw Prowl sitting on the counter with a small cube of med-grade. Prowl looked over, his expression somber. Ironhide went to him, concerned.

"Are you alright?" Ironhide asked in a whisper.

"Yes…" Prowl whispered.

Ironhide sighed silently.

"It will be over tomorrow." Prowl whispered before Ironhide could find words. "It will be just like a dream…"

Ironhide put a hand on Prowl's shoulder. He didn't know what to say.

"I wish we stay like we have the past few days…" Prowl said softly.

"You two had a lot of fun, didn't you?"

Prowl nodded.

Ironhide hugged him close and held him like he was a youngling again. After a while, Prowl shifted, and Ironhide released him.

Their optics met. "Thank-you for being everything that you are." Prowl told the older mech. "I could not ask for a better friend or mentor than you."

Ironhide smiled. "I couldn't ask for a better Prowl than you." He said sincerely.

Prowl laughed softly. Then he ducked his head. "Good night." He said. "Recharge well."

"Recharge well, My Prowl Bot." Ironhide told him.

Prowl got off the counter and slipped away. He went to his Med-Bay berth and curled up. He listened to Ironhide's foot-falls as the older mech found Auri and carried her away. Then he felt lonely…

He got out his data-pad and wrote for just over an hour. Then he lay down and thought about things for a while until he drifted into recharge and the land of _dreams_...

_Dreams..._

"Stuffy ol' guarwdian bots." Little Auri said with a shake of her head.

"I know!" Prowl agreed with a huff that shook his tiny door-wings. He took her hand as they cautiously climbed down the big stairs that led up to the mansion where they lived on Cybertron. "Tareful." He warned. The front stair were massive compared to the small sparklings, but the two were undaunted.

"Is oh-tay." Auri assured him with a confident nod. "I maked it down once before wiffout falling. I is getting good."

Prowl giggled. "You'll be good when you tan make it up _and_ down ten times wiffout falling."

"Hoity toity." Auri wrinkled her adorable face at him teasingly. "You think you knows lots just 'tause you start schools tomorrow."

"Well…" He didn't want to be snobby about it. "I guess I has to know a wittle bit before I tan go to schools."

Auri pouted. "I doesn't want you to leave and go to schools wiffout me." She stated as they walked down the sidewalk.

Prowl's tender little spark twisted at the thought of her being sad without him. "You tan come next year, maybe?"

"Dat's a whole big, big long year wiffout you!" Auri cried.

"Oh, no!" Prowl exclaimed, horrorstruck. He stopped and turned her to face him. "Auwi. I isn't leaving compwetely. I will still wiv here. I will dust be gone for maybe… like… like… dust a few hours in the morning, and then I will tum back in the afternoon."

"Oh…!" Auri's tears stopped as she realized that he wasn't going to be completely gone. "Dust for a few hours?"

"Uh-huh." Prowl replied confidently. They resumed their walk.

"What will I do for a few hours wiffout you?" Auri asked, slipping her hand into his.

"I… doesn't know." Prowl frowned. "You tould color and dwaw, like we always does."

"Dat's not fun wiffout you. I twied it once when you was in time-out. It was borwing."

"Oh."

They walked thoughtfully a little ways.

"What's so gwate 'bout schools anyways?" Auri asked.

"Umm…?" He wasn't sure. He pondered it for a couple moments. "All the really gwate and hero bots went to schools. 'Specially Octimus Pwime."

"Oh…!" Auri said with wonder. Optimus Prime was a marvelous hero bot.

"Yeah." Prowl said, pleased to have found a good answer.

"But, Prowlie,"

"Yeah?"

"You is already a hero bot."

"I isn't." Prowl said with a sigh.

"Uh-huh." Auri stopped and hugged him, "You is mine hero bot."

Prowl grinned, his big blue optics sparkling with delight. Auri giggled happily, delighted at having made him smile.

"Let's dust run away." He said.

Auri giggled. "We tan't do dat!" she laughed.

"We tan pretend for a little while."

"Oh-tay." Pretend was a wonderful game. They played it every day and did different things each time. She never tired of it.

"Run!" He shouted, taking her hand. They took off, running as fast as their little legs could carry them.

"Faster, faster!" Auri squealed. She wouldn't be able to keep up if he ran much faster, so he only quickened his pace a little.

They ran until their little cooling systems were hot and gusty, and then they tumbled to the ground.

"Oof!" Auri grunted.

"Is you oh-tay?" Prowl asked, sitting up and reaching over to pull her up by a wing.

"Uh-huh." Auri answered, "I is hot, though!"

"Me too." Prowl said. "I wish we had some frosted topper tandy."

"Mmm! Dat would be the yummiest." Auri grinned at the thought.

"I think the store is a little ways over there," Prowl looked around and then pointed.

"Oh-tay." Auri fanned herself with her hand. "Let's go when we cool off some."

They crawled under a bench and sat in the shade.

"This is fun." Auri said, peeking around the bench leg.

"Uh-huh! Lots of fun." Prowl agreed. "We should do this tomorrow."

Auri giggled. "And the day after tomorrow, too."

"And the day after that." Prowl added with a giggle.

"And then the day after that, too." Auri giggled.

Prowl stopped giggling. He leaned over close to her. "Let's do it every single day of our whole lives." He whispered.

Auri turned to face him and then blinked. "You is so close I is cross-opticked." She whispered.

"You is so close I tan't think." He whispered. There was everything wonderful in her optics when he looked into them.

Auri grinned. "Does you need to think?" she asked, her optics twinkling.

Prowl giggled. "No… not for this anyway…" he replied. Then he leaned over and gently kissed her cheek.

"Smooch-Patrol is going to get you." Auri told him, delighted with the kiss.

"They tan't stop us ever." He vowed.

She hugged him. "We tan run and hide in the tandy shop."

"Oh-tay. Only let's not run so hard this time." he suggested. His little system was still warm from that long dash they had made.

"Yeah. 'Tause I'm tired."

They crawled out from under the bench. Prowl took Auri's hand, and they looked both ways before carefully crossing the street.

The door to the candy shop was big, very, very big for such tiny bots. Prowl couldn't even reach the handle when he stood on tip toes.

He picked up Auri as best he could, and she reached for the handle.

"Hurry!" Prowl gasped. She got heavy very quickly for his little arms.

"I tan't reach it!"

He put her down, stumbling a little at the shift of weight. He steadied himself and then looked up at the handle.

"How will we gets in?" Auri asked, frowning in distress.

"We tan knock." Prowl decided. He made a tiny fist and banged it on the door. Auri went over and stood on her toes and peeked in the window.

"He tumming to open the door for us!" Auri said happily, scampering back to Prowl's side.

The tall Decepticon opened the door and stared down at them silently.

"It's not the tandy store!" Auri squealed. Prowl grabbed her hand, and they ran. They ran all the way back to the bench. Then they collapsed beneath its welcome shade.

They panted a little as their systems worked to cool down.

"Auwi." Prowl said with determination. "I know why I has to go to schools."

"Why?"

"So I tan read signs on stores."

"Oh…!" Auri's face brightened with realization, and her mouth made that darling O-shape. "Oh, of tourse! You has to be able wead signs."

"Yeah." He said.

Auri thought this over.

"…No tandy today, I guess." Prowl murmured, a little disappointed.

"Dat's oh-tay." Auri said, rubbing his arm comfortingly.

"Are you sure?"

"Uh-huh." Auri nodded, "Any time I spend wiff you is good. I doesn't need tandy to be happy if you is around."

Prowl smiled happily and bashfully.

Auri leaned over. "Tan I tiss you back?"

Prowl nodded. Auri's little lips brushed his cheek softly.

"We doesn't need any tandy." Auri decided.

Prowl giggled. "I still has to go to schools, though. That way when we gets hungry we tan find a place to eat."

"Yeah." Auri agreed, nodding her head.

"And I will have them make special Energons every single day." He promised.

"Dat sounds most wonderful in the whole world." Auri sighed happily.

"Oh-tay." Prowl said. "We'll do that."

Auri cuddled up against him, and he put his arms around her. She was warm and snuggly. It was very, very nice.


	73. Chapter 73, Not Much Fun

XD I LIKE the new Copy-N-Paste upload thing! XD

I'm going to be moving in a couple of weeks. Moving about three states away from I live now, so that's pretty intense. I will be living on my own, no more parents. I will be paying my own bills (HORROR!), renting my own apartment (Wheeee! Wait BILLS! AHHH!). Um… working hard, and going to a four-year-college full time. It's going to be great, and it's going to be rough. It will be good, though. Fanfiction will probably not get as many updates, but I do not intend to leave you all hanging.

Okay. This chapter was harrrrrrd to write. Kept getting a block on it. So, I hope it's alright.

Oh, and that last part of Chapter 72 was a dream. The transition was a little ambiguous the first time I uploaded it, so I'm sorry about that, and I went back and made it more obvious.

Congratulations to CatGirlFireflare for being the 500th reviewer! XD

* * *

**Chapter 73**

**Not Much Fun**

"Nghhhh!" Prowl groaned in agony. His head hurt. HURT! He felt sick in the tank, too. It was the worse high-grade hangover he'd ever had. And there was only one bot who he ever got overcharged with. "Jazz!" he growled. Where was the culprit? "JAZZ!" he yelled for his cousin. The trouble-maker was never far off.

A cold pack was placed on Prowl's neck to help him cool down a little.

The cold jolted Prowl awake. He'd been dreaming.

Ratchet was there. Jazz wasn't. Jazz wasn't…

The pain was there, though.

Prowl blinked at Ratchet.

"How are you?" Ratchet asked.

Prowl lowered his head back to the pillow on his berth. "I have a severe helm-ache, and I feel sick to the tank." He replied.

Ratchet put a hand on Prowl's mid-back. Prowl's door-wings twitched up in indignation. "How's the logic-core?" Ratchet asked, removing the offending hand.

"'How _is.'_" Prowl ground out the correction. "It is functioning normally in relation to its average performance."

"The antivirus wore off pretty quickly then..." Ratchet murmured to himself.

"That would be the logical conclusion." Prowl snipped. He shifted, intending to rise. Then he grimaced and doubled over, clutching his helm. "Ngh…!"

"Just stay down for a while." Ratchet suggested.

Prowl growled softly.

"I'll see if I've got a painkiller for your helm." Ratchet said.

"'I w_ill.' 'I Have.'_" Prowl said not nicely, watching as Ratchet went over and opened a cupboard.

"This should do it." Ratchet brought him a small tablet of something blue. "Just hold it in your mouth until it melts. It will ease the helm and probably help settle your tank, too."

Prowl took the tablet and did as he was told. Ratchet had ninety-seven seconds of quiet.

"When I may return to my office?" Prowl asked once the tablet was gone.

"I'll tell you the moment I know, okay?" Ratchet told him, working to not get annoyed.

"'I w_ill._' Agreed." Prowl said, but he looked none too pleased.

Frustration wasn't far away.

Ratchet brought an Energon cube. "Breakfast?"

Prowl took the cube without thanking him and scanned it lightly before sipping carefully. His tank still didn't feel too good.

Ratchet shrugged at a feeling of disgruntlement and went to his computer and began working on his reports. Prowl finished his Energon slowly and then starting taking out his various weapons and checking them. A few went in a neat row to be cleaned, but the majority of them just needed a quick polish. An hour went by.

Then Flareup came in.

"That's quite a collection." She commented.

"'That _is.'_" Prowl corrected. There was no mistaking his tone.

Flareup moved away. "So soon?" She asked Ratchet.

"Yeah." Ratchet said.

"So, no hugging today, I guess?" She asked Prowl.

He looked up, and his door-wings rose a little. "No, Flareup." He said.

Flareup realized that she couldn't tease him anymore. Despite his coldness, she knew that he still had some feelings somewhere. It would be kindest, she knew, to not tease him or bring up the fun that they'd had. Something concerned her, though…

She went over closer to his berth. "You did promise to still hug Auri." She reminded quietly.

Prowl looked down. Then he nodded. "I will keep that promise." He said, even though the words seemed to hurt him. "Aurion will have her hugs."

"Okay." Flareup said, wishing that he'd not gone back so quickly. She slipped away quietly and got some Energon from Ratchet and then went back to her room.

OoOoOoOoOoOoO

Auri peeked into Med-Bay around lunch-time. It had been a very lousy morning. She hadn't seen Chromia at all, and the liaison had been irksome some more. She hoped that Prowl had had a better morning than she'd had. She stuck her head into the room where he usually was, the one where Ratchet did most of his work and where they'd had fun yesterday.

Prowl saw the motion and looked up from his weapon-polishing. He nodded to her. "Good morning, Aurion." He greeted, and she knew from his usage of the longer version of her name that he was back to his cool logical self.

"Good morning, Commander." Auri answered. They had talked about what it would be like, so she wasn't surprised by the stark change. She entered and approached his berth. "Did you recharge well last night?"

An odd expression crossed Prowl's face before he blinked it away. "I did indeed." He replied. He'd never had such dreams, though. Besides the sparkling dream, there had been a dancing dream. He was not about to add that, however. "Did you?"

"Yes, sir." Auri said with a nod.

"You have no pain lingering from your wing-connector sprain yesterday, I hope?" he couldn't keep from asking.

Auri smiled, pleased that he'd asked after her wellness. "I feel a little soreness, but overall, the discomfort's minimal." She told him,

"Good." He said, but her contraction of 'discomfort' and 'is' bothered him. Then he wondered if she was expecting him to keep his promise about hugs. He peeked over at her. She did look very huggable. His logic-core stabbed at him for such a thought, and he blinked at the discomfort.

"Do you know yet when you will be released from Med-Bay?' Auri asked. She loved Ultra Magnus as an uncle, but nobody could run the office like Prowl.

"I do not know, but Ratchet will inform me as soon as a decision is made, and then I shall let you know." He told her.

"Thank-you." Auri said, resting her optics on a beautiful pair of pistols. They were just like the ones that she wanted. They were Decepticon issue, though, so the only ones in Autobot hands were battle prizes. Chromia had a pair, a fairly decent pair. They had been through a lot before she'd gotten her hands on them, though, so despite her care and polish, they'd never lost their misused look. Prowl's looked nearly perfect.

"No hug this afternoon?" Prowl asked. His logic-core bristled and warned him about what he should not do, but he reminded it that he _had_ made a promise.

Auri smiled shyly. "I had thought… well, that… maybe you would-not want one."

"I was thinking you might want one." he was quickly remembering how complicated things got when he and Auri started interacting in non-office situations.

Auri stepped over and hugged him briefly. "I think switching back is going to be a little rough on you." she said.

"To say the least." He said. "I will be better off once I resume my office and law-enforcement work."

Auri nodded. "Everybody will."

Prowl gave her a sideways glance. "Are you exaggerating?" he disliked exaggeration.

Ratchet sent the commander's back a dark look. Auri had just complimented him nicely, and he had the gall to accuse her of exaggeration? That was just rude. It was rudeness to Auri on top of a morning full of rudeness to Ratchet. Ratchet didn't like it.

Auri seemed unfazed by it, though. She replied with a twinkle in her optics. "Well, Magnus took up your desk work; Chromia, some of your patrols; Hot-Rod, Windcharger, and Springer, more of your patrols; Smokescreen, the filing work; Prime, the negotiating with liaisons in person; Ironhide, the negotiating with Bots; Hound, the negotiating with allies; Elita, the negotiating over the phone with liaisons; Mirage, the writing; Tracks, the report-due harasser; and I, a little of some of the above plus assistance with coordination. In short, Commander, it took over a dozen Bots to replace you."

"Oh." Prowl looked slightly surprised and mildly pleased. It was gratifying to know that he was much needed and hard to replace. Over a dozen Bots…? Of course, he knew that they hadn't been working full time on each task. Each one might have given a couple hours of his or her day to do one of his jobs. But, it was still very gratifying.

Then he realized how much work Auri must have put forth. "I must thank you for your hard work in my absence." He said.

'_Yeah, you'd better._' Ratchet thought at him, displeased that it had taken him so long to say it.

Auri was delighted with this thank-you. She smiled happily. "It was my duty." She said.

Prowl picked up another of his guns to clean. "How much trouble did the twins cause in my absence?" he asked, frowning as he suddenly realized how much catching up he had to do.

"None." Auri said, her optics widening as she realized it. "It was weird. They usually have several citations or misdemeanors a week, but not this time."

Prowl frowned, narrowing his optics speculatively. "That would mean they are working on something big." He said, his tactician's processor sorting it out quickly.

"Maybe a welcome-back party for you." Auri teased without thinking.

"The chances of that are exceptionally minimal." Prowl said with a shake of his head. Ratchet scowled at his back again. _Stick-in-the-mud. Wet blanket._

Auri rolled her optics at herself.

"Did you just roll your optics at me?" Prowl asked censoriously. That was disrespectful if she had.

"No, sir. I was rolling them at myself in annoyance of my forgetfulness." She told him.

He paused his polishing and looked askance at her. She looked back at him, thoughtfully and respectfully. He half-smiled regretfully after a moment.

"I know you better than to have asked that." He said, "I apologize for my hastiness."

'_None too soon._' Ratchet thought at him with a frown. Prowl was close to being a downright glitch about everything this morning.

"It is alright, Commander. We talked about it, remember?"

He paused. Yes, they had talked about it quite a few times. He nodded. "It was still rude of me, however."

"You are forgiven." Auri told him, smiling.

He resumed his polishing. Auri watched. "Were you here for something?" he asked as he suddenly realized that he had no idea why she was there.

"I came to see you." Auri said, working not to grin.

"Oh." He rested his gun and polish-cloth on the berth. "About what?"

"About how obtuse you are when it comes to realizing that you have a social visitor."

His optics widened in shock and his wings twitched up. He lowered his wings consciously and blinked. '_That is what the twins call a 'Fail,' I suppose._' He thought to himself. How was he supposed to answer that, anyway?

Auri watched and saw his subtle wing-lift accompanied by the double blink.

"That _was_ rather obtuse of me." Prowl said after a moment. "Ah…" he now had no idea what to do.

"Just clean your weapons, Commander, and we can talk about the office." Auri suggested, hiding a smile. This was the Prowl she was used to.

He resumed his gun-polishing with relief. "Very well. Ultra Magnus has rearranged everything in my office, I presume?"

Auri grinned. "He has; however, as soon as he's kicked out, I shall put everything back just as you had it to the best of my memory."

A look of disapproval dropped over the commander's face. "The phrase 'kicked out' is not one I would have you employ when referring to a senior officer."

Ratchet gave him a highly annoyed look. '_Ingrate! –He completely missed her offer to _help _him-_'

"Ohhh…!" Auri said in surprise. "I'm sorry, I didn't think of _that_." She said earnestly.

"'I _am_.'" Prowl corrected. "'Did _not_.'"

Ratchet picked up a wrench. _Mega-ingrate_.

"I shall get back in practice soon." Auri told him with a bit of a sigh.

"I know you will." He said, "I have the upmost confidence in you, Aurion." He added, not wanting to discourage her. "Your work is exceptional. Grammar… is like polish. It is not entirely vital, but it is important for a professional presentation of your work."

"Understood." Auri said, nodding, secretly impressed that Prowl had said that grammar was like polish and quite pleased that Prowl was praising her for her work in general.

Ratchet fingered the wrench then put it back down.

Prowl paused. She seemed alright. "Tell me some more about how the office work has gone." He said.

"Well… the frequency of infractions has decreased in the areas that Chromia patrols." Auri offered. "She can be rather scary… I think that's why. And nobody wants to mess with Ironhide's femme, y'know."

"'That _is_.' '_You_ know.'" Prowl corrected. "What of the areas that Hot-Rod patrolled?"

Auri frowned. "I don't-"

"'Do_ not._'" Prowl corrected.

"I do not have the exact statistics, but I believe the frequency stayed about the same… maybe it rose a little."

Prowl nodded.

"The negotiating in all areas was complicated, but that's-"

"'_That is._'"

"That is usual. Ironhide was… he did his job well." Auri said.

"I am sure." He knew Ironhide and had known him for longer than Auri had. Auri hadn't fooled him. He could surmise that the weapons specialist had been his usual self and no one had wanted to argue with the big mech.

"Mirage writes well." Auri said, "And Tracks…" she trailed off.

Prowl raised an optic-ridge. Tracks knew how to irritate like there was no tomorrow. "Was his work satisfactory?"

Auri looked sheepish. "He was good at it." She said.

Prowl nodded. "I have known these bots longer than you have. I know what they are like."

Auri considered this. Then she giggled softly at herself. "You _do_ know what they are like." She said.

He nodded. Ratchet left the room to make sure that Flareup had finished all of her Energon. Auri wondered what else she could tell Prowl about that wouldn't take hours to explain.

"And how did Aurion do?" Prowl asked gently.

Auri swallowed, touched by how he asked. "She… it was a little rough, but she knew that she had great support and that her efforts would be a benefit to her friends and co-workers." She said softly.

Prowl looked to her. She was tired, he suddenly realized, tired and stressed. Ironhide was strict about her not overworking, but with Ironhide working overtime… he might not have been able to enforce his wishes. Chromia had been working overtime, too… Prowl suddenly felt upset.

Auri looked up with concern when he said nothing.

"I am sure she did her job admirably." He said. "She will have a much-earned day off as soon as possible."

"That's not neces-" Auri started to object, but Prowl startled her into silence put putting a finger on her lips.

"_'That is.' _And, no." he told her firmly then took his finger away. "You need rest, Auri." Prowl said sternly as Ratchet came back in, "Even your optics look tired," he added. "I developed a bad habit of overworking; I do not want that to happen to you. Understood?"

Auri nodded. "Just… I feel bad that everything will be… well, just… not the same in the office when you get back and that…"

"Stop," he told her. "No slipshod ramblings."

Ratchet eyed his wrench, angered at Prowl's response to Auri's jumbled attempt to explain that she wanted to help.

Prowl, unaware of the medic's grow ire, continued, "I will not send you off the first day I get back. I will be glad to have your help in catching up with the office things. But you must have a day off." He put a protective hand on her arm, "And you shall not work anymore overtime, is that clear?"

Auri nodded. "Yes, sir."

"Good." He said, and Ratchet's optics slipped away from the wrench.

Auri gazed at the Decepticon pistols as Prowl reached for a small knife near it. Prowl rubbed the cloth over the blade and decided that it needed some polish. He found the small container in subspace and took it an opened it. The gesture reminded him of opening a 'spice' container yesterday.

"This is your lunch break." He realized.

"Yes, commander." Auri said, managing to not smile at how obvious the statement was.

"Did you intake the Energon that you needed?" he asked.

She nodded. "You are the only bot that I know of who forgets to take Energon during."

"That remark was wholly inappropriate." Prowl told her,

Auri looked uncomfortable. "I withdraw that remark?" She said hopefully.

Prowl frowned at her. "Very well." He said, "But mind your mouth in the future."

"Yes, sir." Auri said.

She climbed onto the berth after a moment. Prowl's displeased optics met hers, and she dropped off the berth in a second, lowering her optics to the floor. She'd forgotten that she would have to ask permission.

"May I sit there, please?" she asked softly after a moment.

He nodded. "Yes, you may."

She climbed back up and settled down. "I guess we are sort of back to square one." She said with a sigh.

Prowl looked up at her then shook his head. "No," he disagreed gently. "You have learned so much and done so much that there are few things that could set us back to square one. Just some polish has worn off."

Auri giggled despite her company.

Prowl raised a curious optic-ridge.

Auri smiled. "Chromia would have some comeback for that –about telling a femme that her polish was worn off."

Prowl's door-wings twitched. "Chromia is formidable. I would never consider using those words in their literal meaning." He said.

"Now I know how to scare you." Auri teased.

Prowl moved on to cleaning another weapon with no comment.

Ratchet scowled at Prowl. Prowl was trying Ratchet's patience with his horrid stuck-up actions.

"No?" Auri asked.

"No." Prowl said. He wanted to be nice… he just couldn't remember how. How had it worked before? How had it? It was frustrating to find that he did not know how to respond now. Apparently Auri wasn't the only one who had lost a bit a figurative polish. He felt irritated with himself.

"Where did you get these?" Auri asked, touching one of the gorgeous pistols.

Prowl's hand moved instinctively, and before he realized it, he'd lightly swatted her fingers away.

Ratchet, however, realized what Prowl had done in a split-second. The wrench flew through the air and hit Prowl's sensitive door-wing connectors.

"ARH!" Prowl yelled in pain as he whirled to face his attacker.

"You ungrateful glitch!" Ratchet railed at him, storming over to retrieve his wrench. "This little femme has done HOW MUCH FOR YOU? –And all you can do is correct her grammar right and left and back and forth and upsidedown and criticize her for little slips in her wording? We're in an informal setting besides that! And when she shows an interest in something nice of yours,_ you hit her?!_"

Prowl felt an ache develop in his head as his logic center tried to sort out what Ratchet had said.

"Have you nothing to say?!" Ratchet demanded.

Prowl was completely perplexed and utterly frustrated. Ratchet was making it worse. "Go away, Ratchet." He ordered.

"Come again?" It wasn't a nice tone that the medic used.

"I said, 'Go away, Ratchet.'" Prowl said, growing angry himself, "Leave me alone." He started to raise his voice.

"This is _my_ Med-Bay. You don't get to tell me what to do. You-"

"Leave me alone!" Prowl shouted, kicking Ratchet in the leg.

"That is quite enough from you!" Ratchet grabbed the mad door-winger, causing him to yell. Auri jumped off the other side of the berth.

"NNNAHOHHHH-!" Prowl bellowed as Ratchet bent him face-down on the berth. "OW-! UNHAND ME!" He kicked his feet like a sparkling doomed to get spanked.

"I'll _'unhand'_ you-!" Ratchet snapped at him, raising his wrench.

"Ratchet, stop!" Auri yelled but got ignored, "_Stand down!_" she wailed frantically. The wrench connected soundly with Prowl's after-plating. Auri cringed at Prowl's screech of pain then shot Ratchet in the shoulder with her stun-gun.

The big mech stiffened then went slack, and he collapsed onto the floor. Prowl dragged himself the rest of the way onto his berth and curled up protectively.

Auri blinked her optics and wished that she wouldn't cry. It wasn't a fulfilled wish. She sniffled then walked cautiously around Prowl's berth to frown down at Ratchet, checking to make sure that he was completely out. He seemed to be quite so. She put her stun gun away and turned her attention to Prowl.

She climbed onto the berth to sit beside him and put a gentle little hand on his shoulder. She made a soft churring sound to comfort him and let him know that it was alright now.

He clicked softly to acknowledge her but didn't move.

She looked back down at Ratchet and glared at him. Mean Ratchet…! Poor, poor Prowl…

She wanted Prowl to feel better so very much. She slipped her hand to the back of his neck and rubbed gently. This is what Ironhide often did when she didn't feel well.

Prowl's door-wings shifted a little in response, in a good response. Auri rubbed a little more firmly. The tell-tale wings let her know that this was even better. She sighed softly as she calmed down and the tears stopped running from her optics. She felt happier now that she could make Prowl feel better.

Prowl, for his part, felt rather miserable. His helm ached dreadfully, and his logic core was adding to the ache, his tank was now upset again by the rough treatment, there was a throbbing in his wing-connector where the wrench had hit it, and now there was a bruise that smarted, too.

That was just the physical.

The logical part of him was frantically trying to figure out why Ratchet had gone ballistic on him. He kept hitting dead-ends when he tried to sort things out. Ratchet's words hadn't made any sense. He'd said that Prowl had been correcting Auri right and left and back and forth and upsidedown. …that was just not possible. Why had Ratchet said he was doing something that he couldn't even do?

And why was Ratchet mad about him correcting Aurion's grammar? She had to have formal grammar for office business.

And why did Ratchet connect the grammar-correcting to how much work Auri had done? That wasn't logical at all. He'd praised her for her praise-worthy work, and he'd corrected her informal grammar. Why did Ratchet confuse those two?

And why had the medic yelled about them being in an informal setting? They had been discussing formal things…!

And Auri with expressing an interest in something nice of his, he had no problem with that. He hadn't meant to swat her pretty little fingers. He'd never do that for such a small thing. He'd been about to apologize when the wrench had hit him.

Why had Ratchet thrown a wrench at him?! Ratchet was supposed to heal him and not hurt him…!

He groaned softly in distress.

"What is wrong?" Auri whispered gently.

"Why did Ratchet hit me with his wrench…?"

"He thought you were not being fair to me."

"Oh…" He tried to analyze Ratchet's actions through that lens, but he had a hard time figuring them out still. Ratchet and he disagreed on what was fair. Maybe he had been a little harsh. Probably. Then he felt more distressed. "Did you?" he asked.

"No, Prowl, no." Auri told him gently. "I understood what you were doing."

Prowl shifted his aching body and dragged himself to an upright position. He met Auri's optics with troubled ones of his own. "I never meant to hit your fingers." Prowl whispered because it hurt to speak. He hung his head in shame. "I did not mean to. I reacted without thinking, and I was about to apologize when Ratchet hit me."

"It is alright," Auri told him gently, "Do not fret about it. I do not want you to feel bad."

Prowl ground his jaws. He didn't feel bad; he felt horrible.

"Be at peace with it." Auri whispered to him. "Can I get you anything?"

He shook his head ever so slightly.

Auri sighed. All she could do was rub his neck, she supposed. At least that would help a little. She reached to put her hand back on Prowl's neck. He gave her a slightly resistant look, but it faded as she pressed her fingers against his neck. He closed his optics and lowered his head again.

Auri looked back at Ratchet again as she rubbed Prowl's neck. She was disappointed with Ratchet's anger… she guessed it must have come from his guardian-like protectiveness of her that he had. That and stress, she decided. Bots could get irritable when stressed out too much for too long.

"I am sorry…" Prowl whispered.

"It is okay." Auri whispered back reassuringly. Prowl was quiet again after that. He knew it was going to be a mess when Ratchet came out of that stun-gun-induced recharge. Maybe it would be alright. He almost smiled at the next thought that crossed his processer: Auri would stun the medic again if need be. She always had his back, didn't she?

He heard the Med-Bay door open and someone came in. Ironhide! He felt a moment of panic. What if Ironhide sided with Ratchet?! That would be bad. He tensed up and ducked his head down, clasping his hands protectively over his head. Auri moved closer to him as if she could protect him by her proximity.

Ironhide came quickly into the room with a worried look on his face. He'd felt panic from both door-wingers over his guardian-bonds with them. The one from Prowl had startled him, for it had been eons since he felt anything from his guardian-bond with Prowl.

He saw the wingers the moment he came to the doorway. He felt protective hostility come from Auri over their bond. It said _stay away or I will hurt you_. He paused, troubled by this, then sent her care and reassurance of his love over their bond. He didn't feel her take it in, though.

He saw Ratchet's feet sticking out from behind a berth and felt mildly panicked. What had happened? And why didn't Auri respond to him?

"What happened?" he asked, managing to sound calm and at ease despite that worry that was filling his spark. The protectiveness from Auri grew more hostile.

Taking care not to spook Auri further, Ironhide approached slowly. As he came around the berth, he saw that Ratchet had been hit in the shoulder with a stun-gun.

Auri's wings rose and fanned outwards. It was an instinctive tactic intended to make a door-winger look larger and more formidable, but as small as she was, it only served to make her look more vulnerable.

"Nobody's gonna get hurt," Ironhide told her gently, stepping closer. He paused when Auri growled at him, but then he closed the space between him and the berth. "It's alright," he whispered, reaching out and touching first Prowl's shoulder and then Auri's hand. "It's alright." He whispered again, and she finally responded to him. She whimpered a little and wrapped her fingers around his.

"What happen, My Auri?" he whispered then watched as tears fill her optics. He felt his spark twist with pain at the devastated look on her face.

"R-Ratchet g-got mad at Pr-Prowl-" Auri told him. He sat on the berth and put his arm around her as she went on, "I s-s-stunneded him to m-make him s-s-top."

"Stop…?" Ironhide asked, but Auri was no help, for she started to cry again. "Prowl?" Ironhide asked.

"No-!" Prowl protested illogically.

Ironhide hugged Auri with one arm and reached over to put a hand on Prowl's shoulder. Then he cocked his head and eyed the wrench-mark on Prowl's wing-connector.

"What did you do, Prowl?" Ironhide asked softly. Prowl only curled up more tightly.

Ironhide sighed, realizing that the little wingers were both pretty upset. "We can talk later." He said, pressing his head against Auri's. "Are you okay?"

She nodded. "I just want Prowl to be okay." She said, calming down.

"He'll be okay." Ironhide told her.

She sniffled but seemed reassured.

Ironhide sighed again and wondered what to he was going to do with his little Bots. Then he found himself looking down at Ratchet. He shook his head.

"Can I get Ratchet up off the floor and put him on a berth?" He didn't know why he asked Auri's permission, but it seemed be the thing to do.

She nodded. He let go of her and rose. Then, lugging Ratchet up off the floor, he lifted the medic onto another berth. "You are not light." He grunted, giving the unresponsive Bot a shove into place. That done, he went over to the counter and found some candy for Auri and the painkiller tablets for Prowl. He wasn't sure, but he had a suspicion that Prowl would appreciate a painkiller.

"Here, My Little One," he said gently, giving Auri one of her favorite coppery candies.

Auri murmured thank-you and put it in her mouth. Ironhide kissed her head and then reached over to Prowl.

"Painkiller," he told Prowl. Prowl didn't respond. "C'mon." he said, pushing Prowl's head up and then rubbing his finger on the corner of Prowl's mouth. Prowl grimaced then opened his mouth obediently. Ironhide put the tablet in and then pulled his fingers back quickly, a sign that he'd gotten bitten more than once doing that. Prowl wasn't inclined to bite anybody, though. He held the tablet in his mouth, letting it dissolve while Ironhide rubbed his neck.

The gentle rubbing disrupted pain relays and dull some of the signals. He sighed, feeling slightly less bad as the painkiller began to work. He blinked his optics open. There was Auri, poor little Auri, sitting on the berth right next to him, watching him with concern etched in her face.

He gave her a look of apology. She smiled a little at him.

"Better?" Ironhide asked him.

"A little." He murmured, lifting his optics to meet Ironhide's.

Ironhide sighed and sat down on the edge of the berth. He supposed he might be there a while. Auri took this as an invitation to climb up onto Ironhide's lap. Ironhide smiled and put an arm securely around her to snuggle her. He kept his other hand on Prowl's neck, rubbing the pain away.

Ironhide still had no idea what his little wingers had gotten themselves into, but he supposed he'd find out eventually. He only hoped that wasn't anything too naughty. After a while, Ratchet made a low groaning sound and shifted ever so slightly. Ironhide felt the cording in Prowl's neck tighten as the winger stiffened. And he felt Auri tense up. She shifted to peer at the medic.

Ratchet slowly came on online. He reached consciousness before his pain-sensors did. He lifted his head and looked confused for a second before the burning sensation slammed into the sensorial cortex of his system.

"OWW-!" He bellowed, rolling onto his side. "NNGAH –AHH-!" It hurt. It hurt, hurt, hurt..! "ARRRR-!"

Ironhide quickly set Auri down on Prowl's berth. The cold-packs were stored in a refrigerator on the other side of the room. He hurried and got one while Ratchet continued to yell.

"Lie back down on your front." Ironhide told him. "Like I had you before." He pushed Ratchet back down then put the cold-pack on the burn.

Auri sat up very straight and looked intently at the medic with interest at the words that he uttered.

"What was that third to last word?" Prowl asked Ratchet once he'd finished swearing.

"Scrrrap." Ratchet realized that the door-wingers were in the room and he was the center of their attention.

"Well, that wasn't it." Ironhide said drily.

"'Was _not._'" Prowl corrected.

Ironhide turned back and eyed him. "Don't start that with me again."

"'Do _n-…_" Prowl caught himself as Ironhide raised on optic-ridge at him.

Ironhide looked back at Ratchet. "Sorry, Ratchet. I forgot that cold straight on hot hurts worse than nothing on hot."

"That's why you're not the medic." Ratchet spoke through gritted jaws, but his tone held no malice. "It'll be okay."

"'_That is.' 'You are.'_ 'It _will_.'" Prowl corrected.

"Hand me that." Ratchet groaned, directing Ironhide's attention to his wrench that lay on the floor.

Ironhide picked it up doubtfully but handed it to the medic. Ratchet curled his fingers around it tightly.

"Okay," Ratchet seemed to be handling the pain a little better. "Injector in that drawer," he said, and Ironhide went over to get it. "Painkiller, drawer to the left. Needles-"

"No needles!" Prowl interrupted anxiously.

"In the case on the shelf above." Ratchet finished with a gasp.

Ironhide brought the things over to Ratchet and followed his directions in readying the injector for use.

"No needles…!" Prowl pleaded.

Ratchet grounded his jaws and shifted. "About here should do it." He pointed to his shoulder near the edge of the scorching. "Try to miss the… nevermind. It takes practice. Just- OWWWW- SCRA-"

"Don't fret." Ironhide said as he pulled the needle out of Ratchet's shoulder.

"'Do _not._'" Prowl sounded fretful himself.

Ironhide raised an optic-ridge the correction but let it pass as he refocused on Ratchet. "Now what?" he asked the medic.

Ratchet sat up and rubbed the shoulder gingerly. "Put the injector away before Prowl has a panic attack."

Ironhide looked back to the winger and saw that Ratchet wasn't joking about Prowl. In fact, Ironhide realized, if Auri hadn't been sitting by him with her hand lightly on his arm, the Bot would have been running away in terror.

Ironhide quickly put away the device. Then he showed Prowl his empty hands. "It's gone now, Prowl." He told him reassuringly.

"It is." Prowl said.

"Correct my grammar again, and I'll smack you." Ironhide warned. He didn't want to start this again.

Prowl clenched his jaws. He lifted his door-wings fretfully. "You will?" he asked, finding a way to correct the contraction without actually using the same words. It didn't get past Ironhide, though.

"Don't try me." The older mech said, shaking his head.

Prowl clenched his jaws. It was driving him insane. It had to be a glitch in his system. He could not, simply could not stand to let the contractions go uncorrected. He had to… Ironhide would smack him if he did; he did not want to get smacked, but the words… they had to… He had to…

"Prowl?" Ironhide asked.

"Do not." Prowl said, "Do not, do not. Do not!"

Ironhide blinked.

Prowl looked down. He felt better having corrected the words, but now he knew he was in for it. "I tried not to." He said, hoping that it would preserve him somehow.

"Evidently you didn't try hard enough."

"D-d-d-d… I _did not_."

Ironhide approached him.

"I did try…" Prowl said. He lowered his wings.

Ironhide stood before him and studied him. "Did you?" he asked gently after a few moments.

Prowl nodded. "I do not know why, but it was too hard." He said quietly. Everything had been hard that morning, he realized. He didn't know what to do next. It was overwhelming. "I… I am sorry…"

Ironhide hesitated, but then he put a comforting hand on Prowl's shoulder. "It is alright." He told his poor, stressed Prowl. "I think I understand. I'll –I will let it go today."

"Thank-you." Prowl said softly, keeping his optics down.

Ironhide rubbed his shoulder. "Recovering from anything is rough; that I do know."

"Yes." Prowl said. He felt a little better now, but he felt dreadfully tired. "Ironhide?"

"Yes?"

"I need recharge."

Ironhide smiled at the bit of sparkling neediness that sounded in Prowl's tone. It was a sure sign that Prowl was worn out.

"Would you like to take a berth by the wall?" Ironhide asked.

Prowl nodded. He gave Auri a hug and then slipped off his berth to lie down on one that was out of the way.

Ironhide watched him settle down then turned his attention back to Ratchet. Ratchet's attention was focused on Auri. Auri looked tired. Ironhide gave Ratchet a questioning look.

"Need a nap, too?" Ratchet asked gently.

Auri shrugged. "I have to go back to work in ten minutes." She said reluctantly.

Ironhide tried to figure this out. It was rather late for a lunch break.

"I shall go back now." Auri decided. Ironhide hugged her before letting her get off the berth. She smiled tiredly up at him and then went over to Ratchet. "Ratchet…" she said, "I am sorry I sh-shot you,"

Ratchet reached out with his good arm and hugged her. "Oh, little Sweet-spark. I'm the one who should be apologizing. I never should have I lost my temper with Prowl like that. You don't worry about having shot me like that, y'hear?"

Auri hesitated then nodded. "Yes, sir." She said. Then her smiled peeked out, and she gave him a quick kiss on the cheek before heading off to go back to work.

Ratchet rubbed his shoulder. "Ironhide,"

"Yeah, Ratch?"

"I'd appreciate it if you'd check the settings on her stun-gun when you have a chance."

Ironhide rubbed his jaw; he knew where this was going. "Why's that?"

"I think it may be set a little higher than standard. It shouldn't cause _this_ much residual pain, even at close range."

Ironhide wondered how he should break to the doctor that he had set it like that. "Ah…"

Ratchet planted his palm on his forehead. "YOU set it like that, didn't you?"

"Oh, did I not." Ironhide said with smirk.

Ratchet chuckled despite himself. "I shoulda thought of that."

"You should have." Ironhide agreed with a grin.

"Guardians." Ratchet said with a shake of his head. He had to smile, though.


	74. Chapter 74, Catching Up and Getting Out

Helllooooooooo! I'm finally updating! So sorry about such a delay! I'm living in a completely different state now! Yep! Since last update, I've packed up my car and moved north three states in the US, settled into my very own apartment, and started attending a four-year college. It's been a good change. It's taking a little getting used to, but so far so good. My apartment has noooo internet, so I have to walk a block over to the little public library. Or use the computers at the college.

LOL… the first time I went to the library, this kid who was probably about 13 or 14 was like, "Hi!" So I said, "Hi."

"You're pretty." He said.

"Thanks."

"So, how old are you?"

"Twenty-two."

"Oh. Really?"

"Yep."

Pause. "You wanna hang out?"

"Ah, no thanks."

I laughed later. It was sooo random. And I think he must not have believed me about my age.

Awesome thing about the first day of new college: I saw a guy wearing a Transformers T-shirt! I was like "YAY! Awesome! Transformers! Yes! You rock, dude!" –in my head. I just kept walking quietly.

The season two, episode 16 of TFP was great! Seriously, Knockout had me snickering in the library. Oh, man…! "Look what they've done!" … "It's not about _me-ee_…" Right. Not about _youuu_. ROTFLOL!

And I have four TF action figures now! One of my real life friends got my a TFP Bumblebee as a welcome gift. I'll have five soon, though! My sister bought a little Prowl for me, and she's going to give him to me when we see each other again in a few weeks.

XD The lady in my discussion group in class today had this nail-job... It was Knockout's very color of red, and each nail had a little silver stripe. I thought about Knockout every single time I saw those nails.

* * *

**Chapter 74**

**Catching Up and Getting Out!**

The next day went better for Prowl. He was getting used to being himself again, and Ratchet was getting used to him again, too. The two younger medics, Jolt and First-Aid, seemed to be relieved to have him back logical and cool, oddly enough. It was what they were used to, Prowl realized.

Auri came in at noon to see him again. This time she had a small Energon cube in her hand.

"Good afternoon." Prowl greeted her, slipping cautiously off the stool that he was seated on. He'd been sitting at the counter and looking over several data-pads.

"Good afternoon, Commander." Auri greeted, coming over.

He offered her a seat on a stool near his, and she accepted. He watched as she climbed up and sat, and then he resumed his seat carefully. Auri looked thoughtful but didn't comment. A wrench to the after-plating had to be uncomfortable, but someone asking about it would probably be worse, she supposed.

"Are you catching up on your office things?" she asked instead, motioning to the various data-pads that were neatly laid out on the counter.

"I am." Prowl said, nodding. "This day is going better than yesterday, and Ratchet thinks he might sign my release forms by tomorrow or the day after if all continues to go well."

"Oh…!" Auri was quite delighted and kicked her feet unprofessionally. "That's wonderful!"

"Th- "

"That is." Auri corrected herself quickly, unintentionally interrupting Prowl. She gasped and covered her mouth once she realized what she'd done. She slipped her hands down. "I did not mean to interrupt you." She whispered.

"I know you did not." Prowl reassured her. "We are doing better than we did yesterday." He added, touching her arm lightly to reassure her.

Auri's smile came back. "I am glad." She said. "I would hate to have to stun Ratchet again."

"I am certain Ratchet would hate that as well." Prowl rejoined. Part of his conscience nagged him for not telling her that that was slightly disrespectful to joke about stunning a senior officer and reproached him for encouraging it.

Auri sipped from her Energon cube and then smiled.

"Good?" Prowl asked.

Auri nodded. "It's –_it is_ very good. Tracks made it up specially at the pub for me."

"That was nice of him." Prowl said, but he didn't feel sincere about it. Selfish? Was he feeling selfish?

"How do you tolerate some many difficult liaisons?" Auri wanted to know.

Prowl shifted his thoughts towards Auri's question. "Well, it sounds rather un-Autobot-ish," he said slowly, "But I remind myself that they will only be around for a short time. I think, 'they will just be here for a short while. Then they will leave. Eventually, they will never come back.'"

"Oh…" Auri didn't know what to think. Besides, it wasn't very helpful for her at the present.

"It helps with some things." Prowl said as he realized that she'd been looking for an answer for her struggles with Agent Sora. "I have different tactics for different situations. …Is there something in particular you would like to know about?"

Auri sighed. "It's –it _is_ a little too stressful to talk about over lunch." She said.

"Understood." Prowl said, nodding. He knew that feeling. "I will be able to help you better once I get back in the office." He added. "I have been reading your reports and the other reports about her, and they are perplexing."

Auri shifted her wings. Prowl decided that he should let that subject drop. He asked about something office-related but not liaison-related. That conversation went better. They talked for a while before Auri said that Magnus would be expecting her back soon and excused herself.

"May the rest of your day go well." Prowl wished her.

"Thank-you." She said, ducking her head a little. "The same to you."

The rest of the day was dull to him, though, aside from the fifteen minutes he spent antagonizing Flareup. Then she got too irritated and left the room. And he was left to himself. He raised his door-wings then let them lower. He would be nicer to her next time.

OoOoOoOoOoOoO

An intercom came from Bee the next morning.

::Good morning, Prowl!:: it said cheerfully.

Prowl smiled a slight smile. Bee had always greeted him cheerfully as a sparkling; it seemed he'd never grow out of it. ::Good morning, Bee.:: Prowl replied. ::When do you return to Base?::

::Two hours! Just two hours, and I will be back!::

::Excellent. I am glad to hear it. You will be reporting in to Ultra Magnus, though; I am in Med-Bay.::

::Med-Bay! Are you alright?!::

::I am fine now. Ratchet is going to release me soon. I take it from the abundance of exclamation marks that you are eager to return?::

::Yes, Prowl. I am very eager to return.:: Bee held off on the exclamation mark, but a smiling emoticon came along.

::It will be good to have you back.:: Prowl told him, ::There is much you have missed out on.::

::I am sure…!:: Bee replied, and Prowl sensed a hint of homesickness in the younger mech's tone. ::I will come see you when I have a chance.::

::I look forward to it.:: Prowl replied sincerely. Bee bade him farewell, and they signed off a few moments later. He was glad that Bee would be back soon.

OoOoOoOoOoOoO

Amy Sora trudged up the street to meet with Auri. She was counting the days until she could return home, and they seemed all too many to endure. The little femme seemed to be trying to be nice to her and to deal with her patiently, but Amy could tell she wasn't enjoying it.

Amy wanted to pound her fist on the little femme's helm and yell, "I am not doing these bad things! I AM BEING FRAMED!" But, she knew _that_ wouldn't go over well. She wasn't tall enough, anyway. The little femme hardly had any enthusiasm for the job nowadays, either, and that made things rough.

Amy stopped to check the Band-Aid on her ankle to make sure it was staying. With the car acting up again, she'd had to walk too much in a pair of shoes that hadn't been fully broken-in, and the stupid things had rubbed.

"Ow." Amy muttered. At least she would be getting her laptop back tomorrow. Or, at least that was what she'd been told. She walked on.

Coming to the corner, she looked around and saw Auri up the road a ways. The femme was walking on the dividing line of the street as if it was a balance-beam, putting one foot carefully in front of the other. She reached the intersection and turned, coming back in Sora's direction. It was a good alternative to pacing, Amy thought. '_And with her optics on the pavement, she won't see me coming._' It was a gloomy thought. The femme-ling would probably think Amy had been sneaking up on her to laugh at her for playing balance-beam with the road lines… or something like that. Auri seemed to be developing this idea that Amy was evil and out to get her.

Amy sighed and didn't move; she just watched the young alien studiously walk the line.

Then, to Amy's surprise, another yellow door-winger, taller than Auri but not as tall as Prowl, peeked around the corner. Auri didn't see him, and he crept out from behind the corner and began following her on the line. He mimicked her every move.

Auri stopped. He stopped. Auri's wings went up, and he made his go up as well.

Then Auri grinned and spun to face him.

"_Beeeeee!"_ She squealed and jumped to hug him. He caught her in a great hug, and she twittered rapidly in Cybertronian. After a moment he put her back on her feet, but one of his hands remained on her side until she clasped it in hers. And she was still twittering and chirping like an excited sparrow.

He chuckled in amusement and put his fingers up to his mouth in a hushing gesture.

"_O, Bee_," Auri said, sounding eager to keep talking.

Bee chuckled. Then he took out his data-pad and wrote on it before handing it over to Auri. She looked at it. Then she started writing quickly. Bee took the pen away from her after a moment and wrote something briefly.

Auri paused. Then she said a couple words in Cybertronian.

Bee chuckled then nodded. Auri started talking again, still in Cybertronian, but this time it sounded less rapid.

Amy watched as Bee wrote and Auri talked. They seemed to be having some kind of conversation, Amy supposed.

Bee looked up from his writing and noticed her watching. She wanted to duck behind the corner and walk off, but she knew she couldn't. She stayed.

Bee gave her a curious look for a couple seconds before Auri noticed. Then Auri looked and saw Amy. A displeased expression crossed the femme-ling's face as she turned back to Bee and spoke to him.

Bee wrote something back. And Auri sighed with a shake of her head. Bee wrote some more. Auri clicked something moodily and shrugged her wings.

'_She's probably telling him how horrid I am_.' Amy thought grimly. '_He'll never want to meet me, and of course, there will be no interview._' She was surprised the next moment when Bee gestured dismissively to Auri and started walking towards her, Sora.

Amy watched, and he came right up to her and crouched down so that he wasn't towering over her some much. He gave a friendly double-click as he held up his data-pad for Amy to read.

"My name's Bumblebee." It said, "My 'voice-box' was damaged in battle, so I struggle with verbal communication, but I love to talk through writing, recordings, sign-language, intercom, text, and such."

Amy looked up from reading to look into his face. He looked like a kind and friendly bot. His optics twinkled and he gave her a smile. He turned the data-pad around and wrote something else on it.

[What's your name?]

Amy wondered that Auri hadn't told him her name, but then she supposed that maybe the femme had, but that Bee wanted an introduction.

"My name's Agent Amy Sora." She said, "I'm a liaison here to do social studies on the Autobots." She added half-hearted.

[I don't envy that job.] Bee wrote. [My comrades can be a bit cranky about getting studied. ~You've probably figured that out by now, though.]

The frankness was startling. "W-well, yes, actually." Amy said.

[Sorry 'bout that.]

"Oh… it…" she wanted to say that it was okay, but somehow she couldn't bring herself to say something that was such a complete lie. It wasn't okay, and she was completely miserable, and she was probably going to go back a complete failure. She clenched her teeth, telling herself that she wasn't going to cry.

Bee gently put a finger on her upper arm.

She stiffened her resolve and pulled a smile. "Not all jobs are easy." She said.

Bee shook his head, and she wondered if he was agreeing with her words or if he was telling her that he wasn't convinced.

He wrote on his data-pad again and turned it back towards her. [Have you been to our playground?]

She shook her head. "No… I… I didn't even know that you had a playground."

Bee nodded. Then he stood up and signed to Auri.

"No, that's fine." Auri replied with a shrug.

Bee signed some more.

"No, thank-you." Auri said.

Bee cocked his head and signed again.

"I'm sure." Auri said with a cool tone.

Bee signed one more time, and then he transformed into the latest model Chevy Camaro. He opened the passenger door for Amy, and a cheerful voice on the radio called, "Come on in!"

"He's going to show you around for a couple hours." Auri said to Amy in a tone that implied she couldn't care less.

Amy opened mouth but decided she'd better not retort. Instead, she thanked Bee and got in. Bee closed the door and drove off.

A screen on Bee's dashboard came on, catching Amy's attention.

The words, "Mind if I request your records?" showed up on the screen.

Amy sighed. "Go ahead." She said. The screen displayed nothing further, and she supposed Bee was reading her records somehow.

[I am sorry that you've had a bad time.] the screen said a few minutes later.

"Not as sorry as I am." Amy said despite trying to fight self-pity.

[I can help.]

"Can you?" Amy asked, some resentment edging her tone. "The last bot who said that…" she stopped herself. It wasn't reasonable to lash out at Bee just because Magnus had turned on her.

[Who was the last bot?] The screen asked.

"It doesn't matter." Amy said, "William Lennox is giving me a hand."

[Lennox is good. I've worked with him a lot.] There was a pause. Then the screen changed. [May I help, too?]

Amy ground her teeth.

[Please?]

Amy wanted to tell him no and to leave her alone about it. She was ready to be done with the stuck-up sentient robots.

[Isn't "please" the magic word?]

Amy felt herself melt a little. "Maybe." She said.

[Okay! Thank-you! :) ]

She was about to tell him that it was just a "maybe" and not a "yes," but she caught sight of the playground. Her mouth fell slightly open in astonishment as she took in the swings.

Bee pulled up to the warehouse-frame and let Amy out before transforming. "Ta-da…!" he played a recording of the words as he motioned to it.

Amy stepped onto the concrete floor and looked up at the swings in amazement. Bee went over and climbed up the braces of the frame, climbing part way up before stopping and hanging upside.

Amy could help but laughed when he wiggled his wings and waved at her with his fingers. Bee climbed down.

"I didn't know that bots played on swing-sets." Amy said, smiling and feeling better about Bee.

Bee nodded happily to her then walked to the other side of the frame. He climbed up, and then he reached over and keyed open a box. He pressed a button within box, and a translucent slide appeared.

"Force-field…!" Bee explained. He jumped onto it, and slid down the force-field slide, much to Amy's amazement. He chuckled when he stopped and saw her face.

"You can try it, too!" he told her.

Amy laughed. "Ah, no, I don't think so." She said, but she grinned at the thought of sliding down a huge force-field.

"Aw… c'mon." Bee coaxed with another recording.

Amy shook her head. "It's not professional."

Bee waved his hand in a pantomime of someone acting stuck-up, but he smiled at her afterwards so that she knew he wasn't offended.

He went over to the swing and touched it. Then he looked meaningfully at Amy and tapped the swing.

She smiled gently. "I don't swing either."

Bee gave her a hard-to-read look and then climbed onto the swing. Kicking off gently, he swung a little.

"It is good to stop and take a break sometimes." He told her with Prime's voice. "When you are frustrated, look up at the skies."

She glanced up. "What does the sky have to do with anything?" she asked.

"Try it." Ratchet's voice said as Bee motioned upwards. "Thoughtfully." Ironhide's firm tones added.

Amy smiled indulgently and gave a half shrug.

"Ah, don't make me make you." Ironhide's voice was used again as Bee got off his swing. Amy wondered for a moment what the yellow bot was going to do, but the next moment she wished he wouldn't have done it.

He came right over and picked her up without so much as asking permission. His hands came behind her; one went down so she was sitting on it, and the other was at her back. She reddened and looked indignant, but she was too afraid of falling to struggle. The next moment she was lifted up, and then she found herself gently settled on the second bot-sized swing.

"Don't you ever pick me up again!" She yelled up at Bee.

He motioned for her sit.

"NO!" Amy yelled at him. "I'VE HAD IT WITH YOU AUTOBOTS! YOU ARE INCORRIGIBLE, ALL OF YOU!" She continued yelling at him, ranting at him from the swing while he stood and listened. After some time, she paused and realized that she was thirsty.

She gave Bee a dark look.

He cocked his head.

He didn't deserve to get yelled at, she thought. She sighed and turned away. Then she sat down. Bee stood motionless for a few moments before returning to his own swing. He pushed off a little with his foot and swung slowly.

Amy looked over at him after a while. He seemed to be quite at peace, almost basking in the sun. The sunshine was warm to her, but it was warm in a pleasant way. Her swing had an airy feel to it, like it was just floating. The bot seemed pretty sure about himself. Amy felt herself softening.

She lay down on her back after a few minutes. There were light clouds in the sky, fluffy ones.

Bee glanced over to check on her and smiled. She would be relaxed after an hour, and she'd probably be happier, too. He let her be, but he began planning out what he would talk to her about.

OoOoOoOoOoO

Prowl looked over from his data-pads when Bee came into Med-Bay.

"Well." Prowl said, "I was beginning to think you were not coming." He said.

Bee lowered his head a little as he lifted his wings in an expression of apology.

Prowl shook his head and brushed his remark away. "I did not mean that fully." He said. "Welcome back. Come. Tell me many things."

Bee paused in amazement. Prowl was generally nicer to him than he was to other bots because Prowl had been a part-time guardian under Ironhide's guardianship, but Prowl had never been quite this companionable.

Prowl motioned to a nearby stool. Then Bee moved. He came over and sat facing Prowl. And Prowl turned so that he was facing Bee.

Bee spoke with sign-language, some audio clips, a few spoken words, and much was added with the expressiveness of his door-wings. Prowl "listened" with undivided attention, nodding occasionally, and asking a question now and then.

After telling about his off-base adventures, Bee hesitated then switched to writing and brought up the liaison. He wrote about what had passed between him, Auri, and Amy, and how he'd taken Amy out to the playground. He related how she'd yelled at him about the bots and how she'd relaxed after a while there and had told him about the things that had been going on.

"_It is all very perplexing, Prowl._" Bee wrote then looked to the older mech.

Prowl nodded. "I have been studying her files and trying to sort things out. There are… There are pieces missing from this puzzle."

Bee almost looked for a puzzle, but stopped himself as he realized that Prowl was speaking figuratively. It was rare that Prowl spoke so figuratively.

Prowl frowned lightly. "I simply cannot figure out what is going on while I am still in Med-Bay. I am too cut off from resources and simple observation."

Bee nodded. "_I understand that feeling._" He wrote sympathetically.

"It is frustrating." Prowl said, more to himself than to Bee. "And I suspect that Auri is struggling a great deal."

Bee nodded in agreement and confirmation.

Prowl seemed to burrow down into thought for a few moments, but then he pulled away and returned to Bee. "Did you report in to Magnus?"

Bee nodded. "_Hours and hours ago_." He wrote, adding a smiley face.

Prowl took the pen and drew a tongue on the smile and crossed out an eye so that it was winking. "Go on and get some rest now." He said.

Bee nodded his head once and then headed out, data-pad in hand.

Prowl suddenly realized how strange it had been of him to mess with the smiley. He groaned. Then he took comfort in the fact that Bee would just go to Ironhide and not tell anybody else.

Once that concern was out of the way, he guilt-tripped himself about Auri. He didn't _'suspect_' that Auri was struggling; he _knew_ she was. And it was his fault. He should have been there to help and guide her with her liaison difficulties. He should have been in his office to run things so that she didn't have to worry about them. He continued on this thought-pattern for a while until he realized that there wasn't anything he could do about the past, and he decided to work on the future.

::Bumblebee,:: he hailed the scout on his private intercom.

::Bee here.:: Bee replied cheerfully.

::I did tell you to rest, but when you are done, would you do me a favor?::

::Of course I would. I am always glad to help, you know.:: Bee replied.

::Well… I dislike asking this favor. I would ask that you spy on Sunny and Sides.::

There was a pause on Bee's end.

::I understand if you wish to say no.:: Prowl added.

There was a shorter pause, and then Bee replied soberly. ::I will do it for you, Prowl.::

::Thank-you. Keep it completely secret, please.::

::I will.:: Bee assured him.

Prowl thanked him again and then signed off. He sighed softly, feeling regretful.

OoOoOoOoOoOoO

Chromia gave Auri a sideways look when the femme-ling stomped in with dirt caked in her peds. Auri hardly looked at her and went straight for the couch, taking out a data-pad.

"Hold up." Chromia said sternly when she saw Auri put her feet on the couch. "No dirty feet on the couch. You know better."

Auri looked annoyed for a second and then ignored Chromia, going back to her data-pad.

"Excuse me?" Chromia said, putting a hand on her hip. "Aurion, what is up?"

"I'm busy." Auri retorted with a tone that had no respect in it. "Can't you tell?"

Chromia looked furious for a moment, but then she pushed it away and calmed down. "Auri, no matter how busy you are, you must still obey rules and treat others with respect."

One of Auri's door-wings flicked up dismissively.

"Put away your data-pad, Little Miss, and look at me when I speak to you." Chromia ordered.

Auri lowered the device and eyed Chromia disagreeably.

"No dirty feet are allowed on the couch, you know that." Chromia reminded her, "And you also know that if you track dirt in, you have to clean it up, you acknowledge me when I speak to you, and you speak to me respectfully."

"I acknowledged you." Auri said irritably.

"Not properly or respectfully, you didn't." Chromia told her.

Auri flicked her wing up again.

"You stop with the wing flick. Prowl is the only bot who gets to do that." Chromia ordered. "I mean it. Now, you get your little behind off that couch and clean up the floor and wash your feet."

"I have work to do!"

"You do it after you clean up."

"UAH!" Auri yelled, jumping up and throwing her data-pad away. "You're driving me crazy! WHY so many fra-glitchety rules?! It's sickening!"

Having Auri yell at her made Chromia snap inside.

"YOU WANNA KNOW WHY?" She yelled back. "I'LL TELL YOU! BECAUSE WHERE I GREW UP, THERE WERE NO XXXXING RULES! EVERYBODY DID WHAT THEY XXXX WANTED TO, NOBODY GAVE A XXXX, AND BOTS GOT HURT AND USED!"

Auri shrank back in horror, a shocked look on her face.

Chromia kept yelling, though. "THERE WERE NO XXXX RULES AND NO XXXXX BOUNDARIES! AND I GOT USED AND ABUSED BECAUSE THERE WERE NONE! WE HAVE RULES 'CAUSE YOU'RE NOT GOING GET THE XXXX I GOT, UNDERSTOOD?"

Auri nodded quickly, her optics wide.

Chromia trembled a little. "And don't you ever say fra-glitchety again."

Auri opened her mouth to stutter 'Yes, ma'am,' but Chromia had turned and run into the other room. The door closed hard, and Auri was alone.

Tears welled up in the little femme's optics. She hadn't meant to make Chromia so upset. She'd never heard Chromia swear like that. She'd never seen Chromia cry, either, and there had been tears on her femme-guardian's face towards the end.

A whimper escaped Auri. She held back for a moment, but then she began to cry. Curling up on the floor, she hid her face and sobbed.

Ironhide came home and found her there. She'd stopped crying by the time he came home, but there were still tears on her face, and she hiccupped a little as her cooling system coped with the tears.

"Oh… My Sparkling…" Ironhide was at her side in a moment. "What happened, MyAuri?" He asked as he knelt by her and put his hand on her back.

"I…I… was horrible to Chromia…!" Auri cried.

Ironhide picked her up and held her. "Yeah…?" he asked gently.

"I was in an attitude… and was really, really rude." She paused to sniffle, "And I was mean."

Ironhide hugged her. "Aw…"

Auri whimpered. "She got really upset… and yelled and s-swore."

Ironhide groaned. "Oh, Auri."

"And she was crying." Auri started to cry again at the thought of it.

Ironhide held Auri for a few minutes until she calmed down again. Then he gave her a closer snuggle. "I'm going to check on Chromia, okay?"

She nodded with sniffle. "I'll go clean the floor." She said.

"My good femme-ling." He told her, letting her go and rising.

He had to hack the electronic lock on the door before he could open it. He peered in cautiously and found Chromia curled up on their berth.

Entering, he closed the door behind himself and went over to her spark-mate. "Hey…" he said softly.

"Go 'way…" Chromia said crossly.

He came over and lay down on his side beside her, curling around her a little. "Auri decided to clean the floor." He told her softly, venturing to put his fingertips on her arm. She didn't turn and punch him, so he slipped his arm over her. "Talk to me…?" he asked.

Chromia sighed. He kissed her gently. She sighed again, but then she rolled over so she could see him. He shifted so they could be comfortable against each other.

"Promise you won't get mad?" she asked.

"I promise." He said, working to not get distracted by her lips.

Then Chromia told him word for word what had passed between Auri.

"I'm sorry things have gotten out-of-hand…" Ironhide murmured when she'd finished. "I know I've let a few things slip because I felt bad about her having a hard time with Sora… I shouldn't have."

Chromia rubbed his arm. "It's okay, Hide. You can't always know what the right thing is."

"No…" He agreed. "I'm still responsible, though."

Chromia smiled. "My Mmmmech." She purred. This made him smile. He started to go for her lips, but then he stopped himself.

"We need to resolve things with Auri." He said.

"Do you think?" Chromia teased him as she got up.

"One-track." Ironhide admitted.

Chromia went out and found the floor cleaned to perfection. And her little Auri was sitting by the door trying to clean one foot while standing on the other.

"The floor looks wonderful, my Auri." Chromia said gently.

Auri turned shyly. "Thank-you." She said softly. "I'm sorry I upset you." She said. "I wouldn't have ever said that if I'd known you would cry."

Chromia went over and hugged her tightly. "It's alright." She told her. "I never should have responded the way I did. Can you forgive me?"

Auri nodded.

Chromia held her for quite a while before loosening her hold. She kept her hands on Auri's arms. "Do you need help washing?" she asked.

Auri nodded with a little bit of a smile. She didn't really need help, but she knew Chromia wanted to give her the small service. Chromia sat cross-legged and took Auri onto her lap sideways. The femme-ling cuddled against her femme-guardian and purred a little in contentment. Then she wriggled her foot a little as Chromia washed it.

"Ticklessss..!" Auri giggled when Chromia started up with a scrub brush.

"Tickles nothing." Chromia said playfully, poking her side a little.

Ironhide watched them. His femmes were happy with each other again, and of this he was very glad. Things could easily get out of hand again, though, he feared, with Auri often cross about her liaison. Things had to change soon with that liaison. He frowned. He would have to make them change if they didn't on their own. He was willing to cut that lady a little slack, but things were starting to get to the end of the rope.

OoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoO

"Well," Ratchet said, coming into the room where Prowl was studiously attending to the polish on his left shoulder.

The buffing stopped, and Prowl looked over expectantly. It was early evening, and Ratchet had the test results for Prowl's last scan in his hands.

A mischievous light sparkled in the medic's optics. "It would be interesting to see how long I could stand silently before you gave in to asking." He said.

"You would not do that to me." Prowl said, smiling ever so slightly.

Ratchet chuckled. "No, I wouldn't." he said, handing the data-pad to Prowl's fingers, "Here you are. You're a free Bot now."

"Oh, good." Prowl could not hide the relief and the eagerness from his voice, and his wings flitted up ever so slightly as he saw the signature on his release.

"You will have to come back in for some follow up check-ups, of course."

"Of course," Prowl scanned the form and the dates.

"And you see that no overtime work is allowed."

"I see that," Prowl was already starting to plan on how to get around that.

"And I will be keeping an optic on you, so I'll know if you work over time."

"Yes, Ratchet." Prowl said, still looking through the data-pad.

"And if I catch you working overtime, I'll haul you over my knee and ding your after-plating good."

Prowl glanced up for a second, a hint of a smirk almost touching his lips. "That would hardly be successful."

Ratchet paused, thrown off. He was used to having Prowl give him a chilly look when he threatened; this amused response was altogether unusual. "I would put you in the brig with the twins, then." He added.

Prowl looked up. "Are they in there now?" He asked, a frown crossing his face.

"No." Ratchet said. "They've actually been perfectly good."

"Are we done here?" Prowl asked, suddenly sounding preoccupied, "There are some things that I would like to get done before tomorrow."

Ratchet had more to tell him, but it wouldn't hurt for it to wait. "Yeah. We're done here. I'll email you a few other things that you must read, but you can go now."

"Thank-you, Ratchet." Prowl said sincerely. "Thank-you… very much."

"You're welcome, Prowl." Ratchet told him.

Prowl glanced back at his berth to make sure that he'd not left anything, and then he hurried out of Med-Bay. He paused just outside the door and looked around, feeling triumphant for no known reason.

He felt… he felt so good, so free…

It was wonderful.

The streets were quiet; hardly anybody was around this area at this time of day.

A wild desire to tear down the road in car-mode with sirens blasting took hold of him. He shouldn't, he knew. He should go his way seriously as he always did. He stepped towards the street, still contemplating it, and paused again.

He stepped into the street and transformed, starting his engine as he finished his transformation. It sounded great. Powerful. He revved. He'd not been on the road in what seemed like ages.

He revved again, and then he gave in to impulsive. He revved his engine a third time and then took off with a squeal of tires as he kicked his siren on.

Ratchet darted out of Med-Bay to see what the noise was for, but all he saw was Prowl speeding away with the open road before him. He chuckled. Prowl was one extraordinary door-winger.

* * *

Sorry about Chromia... Don't know why I thought of it... anyways.

I've got some pictures up on deviantart of my bots, and some photo comics, so check them out if you like. :) Link's on my FFN profile.

And you can like me on facebook, too, for any news I might think to post. ;) www. facebook pages /Cairistona /283198991745833? ref=tn_tnmn


	75. Chapter 75, Splish, Splash, Work, Work

Hello again! I'm getting A's in college so far. Time for some fanfiction fun now! I got a really long chapter for you all! XD

* * *

Chapter 75

**Splish, Splash, Work, Work**

Prowl's conscious caught up with him after a little while, causing him to click off his siren and slow down to below the speed limit. He felt a bit shocked at himself then. He shouldn't have been doing that. The other bots would think…

He stopped himself. He knew what _he_ would think. But the other Bots were more generous than he was. They would think he was perfectly justified in taking off and enjoying himself like that. "You deserve it." They would say. "Have a little fun."

No one would condemn him for his little misdemeanor. Slowly, hesitantly he decided that he shouldn't either. He wouldn't do it again, but he wouldn't berate himself for it.

He wanted to go see the ocean again, but he paused, considering the massive to-do-list that hung before him. The ocean would still be there when the list was done. But, when was the list ever done?

He wasn't required to start work until tomorrow, anyway. And the list would still be there when he was done at the ocean.

Prowl made his way to the beach and transformed once he came to the sand. He walked through the sand, kicking it a little from time to time until he came to the wet sand then he ran to meet the ocean.

The waves came smashing towards him and crashed up against his legs. He kicked back, fighting playfully to maintain his balance as the great water dragged at his feet in its retreat. He liked the ocean, really. He'd not thought of it that way before. He had found a certain feeling of contentment at the seaside before, but he'd never realized that he actually _liked_ the ocean.

He didn't like seaweed, though. He kicked a piece of the nasty stuff off his foot. That he didn't like. He half-smiled as he remembered Auri teasing him about not liking seaweed that day that they'd gone to the beach.

Auri.

Guilt crashed over him. He'd forgotten to intercom her.

::Aurion,:: he hailed her on the comm. as he waded in the sea.

There was a bit of a pause, but then she replied.

::Hello, Prowl. Commander.:: Her response seemed a little disoriented and surprised, almost as if she'd just been disturbed from recharge.

::Is now a bad time?:: he asked.

::Oh, no! It is not. I only just woke up.::

::I apologize if I woke you.::

::Well, I might forgive you if you have a good reason for doing so.:: she responded playfully.

'_Do not encourage that._' His logicalness warned him.

::I will be forgiven then, for I am intercomming you to inform you that I have been released from Med-Bay.::  
::OOOOh! Prowl!::

He winced at the amount of delight that he felt from her. It was a little too much.

::I am delighted to hear of your release.:: she replied more professionally still eagerly. ::I suppose you are going to your office now to rearrange it for the morning?::

Prowl gazed down at the seawater around his ankles and the sand on his legs.

::I am planning to do that in about an hour, actually.:: he decided. ::Or will that be too late for you to come along?::

::That will not be too late.:: Auri replied, and Prowl had the sense that she was very pleased that he'd remembered that she was going to help him rearrange things.

::Very well. I shall see you at the office in an hour.:: Prowl confirmed, and then they signed off.

Prowl waded for a while more, enjoying it, and then he headed back to the city to go to the showers. He drove to the showers then transformed as he came to the bathhouse. Going into the mech's side, he found Bee and Smokescreen there.

Bee lifted a hand in greeting, and Smokescreen said hello.

"Hello." Prowl said. Bee cocked his head curiously, and Prowl nodded. "Ratchet signed my release." He told him. "I will be back at my office tomorrow."

"That's great to hear." Smokescreen said, smiling a little, "Bots have been working their feet off trying to keep on top of all that you do."

"So I have been told." Prowl replied. He turned on a facet and self-consciously put his right foot into the water. He never washed when other bots were around, and Bee and Smokescreen knew it. He knew they had to be astonished that he was in here, so they had to be watching. A quick glance told him that they were but were trying to not be obvious about it.

He was only going to wash his legs and feet from the seawater. The rest of him, he decided, would just be fine with a quick rinse. He hoped.

Smokescreen went back to his conversation with Bee, and Prowl listened but kept to himself.

All three of the mechs were startled by a sudden knocking on the door, and Flareup's shout of "Hey!"

"What!" Smokescreen yelped, hopping one foot.

"Chromia's soap is in there, and she needs it." Flareup yelled through the door. Bee winced, as did Smokescreen, but Prowl looked inscrutable.

"Really?" Smokescreen called back uncertainly.

"Really." Flareup's tone had an implied 'you bucket-helm' hint to it.

"So why isn't she asking for it?"

Prowl's wings twitched up, and Bee's optics widened.

"Do you really wanna go there?" Flareup challenged the unfortunate mech. He realized why a second too late.

"No, no, no!" He replied hastily, "It was a dumb question. Ah, which one is it?"

"Well, it's blue." Flareup said, sounding a little annoyed.

"Uhm…" three pairs of mech optics studied the few cubes of soap on the shelves. "We have several blue."

"Oh, puh-leez. The color of blue that Chromia is!"

"I don't see one that color…" Smokescreen said with all reluctance once both Bee and Prowl had both shaken their heads.

"Is your armoring on?"

"Ye-"

"Well, keep it that way."

"Wait- You can't-!"

Flareup came in like she owned the place. "I seriously didn't think you mechs were color-indifferent." She said huffily. "It's the same color of blu…" She stopped and stared when she saw Prowl. "I thought you never washed when bots were around." She said, not beating around the bush at all.

"I was merely washing the sand off my feet." He said deliberately.

"Oh." She said quickly, remembering that it was rude to stare. "So have you seen Chromia's soap?"

Prowl shook his head. "If I had, I would have said."

Flareup glanced downwards. "Oh, yeah, I guess you would have.

"We may have overlooked something." Prowl said as he motioned that she could look around.

"_May have?_ Totally." She glanced around the mech's side of the shower quickly then focused on the soaps. She chuckled. "The mech-to-femme ratio on this base is ridiculous, but we have way more soaps and scrubs that you do."

"There is a simple reason for that." Prowl said, dabbing a bit a soap on his foot.

Flareup glanced over, "Yeah?"

"We are not nearly as messy and therefore do not need as many cleaning supplies."

Flareup chuckled. Bee looked uncertainly amused, and Smokescreen stared blinked at him in disbelief.

Smokescreen stuttered. "W… was that a… j-joke…?"

"Yes." Prowl said, looking ever so slightly smug.

"You shoulda been in Med-Bay." Flareup told poor Smokescreen with a grin. "He can be quite funny there."

Prowl decided that now was a good time to change the subject. "Have you found the soap yet?" he asked.

Flareup shook her head and frowned ever so slightly. "I'm actually not seeing it…" She glanced around, "Chromia's not in the greatest mood… so… I…"

"Hey." Chromia said, entering, "What's-"

"WHOA!" Smokey yelled and hid his optics as Bee squeaked and quickly hid his. Prowl cocked a wing ever so slightly but his gaze didn't waver.

"Oh. What." Chromia's tone was sarcastic. "You've never seen bare legs and midriff before?"

"Oh, is that all?" Smokescreen said weakly. "It was just instinctive. We-"

"Nevermind." Chromia said shortly. "Where's my soap?"

"We do not know." Prowl said slowly, never flinching. Chromia eyed him speculatively for a moment then turned back to Flareup.

"Flareup?"

Flareup shook her head quickly. "They were serious when they said they didn't see it. I'm not seeing it either."

"Are you sure it is not on your side of the showers?" Prowl asked, but he saw no reason why Ironhide would want it over there; Chromia wasn't one a mech would want to leave alone.

"Yes, Prowl, I'm sure. Cause if it was, I would be over there using it, not over here looking for it." She went over and pulled one of the benches away from the wall and looked behind it. She turned, annoyed. "You mechs are no help. Go away."

Bee peeked to see if she was serious. Smokescreen peeked sideways to see what Bee thought.

"We are here because we were bathing, Chromia." Prowl said, motioning with his washcloth. "We cannot well go off half-washed."

"Well, go use the femmes' side. There's nobody in there."

The mechs paused.

"Scram."

Bee and Smokescreen darted for the door. Prowl went hesitantly, catching Flareup's optics as he went. She shrugged.

Prowl entered the femme's side of the showers to find Smokescreen snickering.

"What." Prowl demanded with all disapproval.

Smoke sobered. "I thought she was exaggerating about the amount of s-soap." He said. He received a look that informed him that he'd better not laugh anymore.

"Well, here goes." Bee said with an audio clip, and he turned on a shower carefully.

"Don't use any of their soap." Smoke whispered. "Some of it tints…"

Bee nodded with a little smirk.

"Poor twins." Said Smoke, but he was more amused than sympathetic as he remembered the time that Chromia had revenge-pranked Sunny and Sides using the showers as part of her plan.

Bee repressed a titter, shooting a quick look over at Prowl to make sure they weren't getting themselves in too deep. Prowl was studiously washing his legs, however.

A minute later the door swished open. Bee and Smokescreen, who were almost finished rising off, looked up quickly.

"What are you two doing in here?" Auri yelped.

Prowl, who was now well-hidden behind a bench, looked horrified.

"Ah… well…" Smokescreen looked to Bee to gain courage. "Chromia's dead certain that her soap is in the mechs' side, and she kicked us out so that she could look for it."

Auri's wings twitched, and a displeased look crossed her face.

"We weren't finished, so she sent us over here." He concluded.

"But I need to wash." Auri said, and Prowl knew from her tone that she wasn't going to be cooperative.

"You could wash in the other side while Chromia's pawing through everything over there." Smokescreen offered, "Flareup's over there."

"I don't want to wash in the mechs' side." Auri objected.

"It's a whole lot like the femmes' side." Smoke coaxed. "We don't have as many soaps, but the layout is the same and everything."

"It's not about the layout…!" She was getting upset now. Even Smoke, who didn't know her that well, could tell that she wasn't the happiest.

"It's not dirty or anything…" Smoke tried.

Auri made a quiet little growl. Prowl knew things were going downhill. Fast. He ground his jaws and then picked himself up, rising from behind the bench.

Auri blinked and stared when she saw him. Smoke and Bee did, too, for that matter.

Prowl opened his mouth to speak, but the femme was staring so hard at him that he found it disorientating. He shifted his wings.

"A-Auri." He managed to say. "Both Flareup and Chromia are over there, so I am certain that it would be fine for you to go over."

She still hadn't stopped staring.

"Will you stop staring at me?" Prowl asked.

Auri opened her mouth a little then shifted her optics away slowly.

"Go on to the other side of the showers." Prowl told her. "Flare and Mia will reassure you." He added, recognizing the tell-tale signs of an overloaded logical processor in her.

Auri turned away slowly, still in a state of shock. Her logic processor had never been so close to crashing than this. It wavered but then stabilized, and everything got sorted out. The initial shock passed. She turned back, glaring at the mechs indignantly.

"It was not our idea." Prowl told her. "Not our idea at all."

She opened her mouth to object.

"No." Prowl told her. "We did not argue with Chromia. You will not argue with us. Go on."

Auri looked mad. "These are our femme-only showers! You can't tell me what to do here!"

Prowl looked taken aback. "That is not a plausible argument, Aurion. Go."

"No! You go!" she said, stamping her foot.

"We are still soapy. We are not leaving until we have finished rinsing."

"Go rinse in the carwash! Not in _our_ side of the bathhouse!"

Prowl was appalled at that suggestion, but he managed to speak firmly. "That is not happening." He said. There was no way the three of them were going to traipse across town with soap all over them to go to the car wash.

"Go out!" Auri stamped her foot again.

"No." Prowl said, but Bee and Smoke considered sneaking out quietly.

"Don't tell me no!" more foot stamping.

"Do not stamp your feet at me." Prowl replied calmly. "You are being very unprofessional."

"I want my showers!" _stamp_.

"I told you to not stamp your feet at me." Prowl's wings lowered, displaying his disapproval. Bee edged towards the door. Smokescreen followed suit.

"You're not my guardian!" She argued, but she didn't stamp this time.

"No..." Prowl said, feeling out of his element, "I am not your guardian. However, I am your elder."

"Everyone on this stupid base is my elder!"

Lots of foot stamping accompanied her words. It was down-right like a tantrum. Prowl watched doubtfully. How was he supposed to handle this? He was starting to feel a little panicked now. He maintained his calm appearance and attempted to reason with the femme-ling. "I understand that your predicament is frustrating; however,"

"Don't however me!" Auri howled, "I get howevered all day _long_! And Nobody listens!"

"You are clearly exaggerating now. Stop it."

"I wonnnn't stop!"

Bee slipped out the door, Smokescreen right on his heels.

Prowl gritted his teeth. He hated to say this, but it was the only thing that he could think of that would work. "You are clearly out of sorts. If you continue in this manner, I will decide that you are in no mood to help me this evening, and I will disallow you from assisting me with my work and will send you away from the office."

Auri paused.

"Is that clear?" Prowl asked.

Evidently he was clear, for Auri broke into tears at the prospect of being forbidden from the dear office.

Prowl watched guiltily as she sobbed and stuffed her hands against her optics. Going over to her, he put a hand on her shoulder. She tried to stop crying, but she couldn't. Prowl hesitated, but then he gently put his arms around her and held her.

Then he intercommed his former guardian. He wasn't going to try anything else. At this point, anything else just wasn't wise.: :Ironhide. I need help/backup.::

::Where are you?:: Ironhide asked immediately.

:Sh-showers.:: Prowl told him. ::Um… the femmes' side.:: he added.

::Femmes' side?! What on earth are you doing in the femmes' side, Prowl?!::

::It is a long story. Please hurry.:: he replied as he rubbed Auri's back gently.

::Be there in a literal minute.:: Ironhide told him. ::Is someone injured?::

::No. Nothing like that.:: Prowl told him. Auri was calming down just a little.

::Prank?::

::Chromia kicked us out of the mechs' side because she had to find her soap that was lost in there. She kicked us into the femmes' side. Auri came in and got mad at us.::

::Oh, boy. Wait, _us_?::

::Bee and Smokescreen. They have beat a retreat at Auri's… dramatics.::

::It's been that sort of day.:: Ironhide said. ::Incoming.::

Ironhide slid the door open and came in, and he couldn't help but smile at the look of immense relief that appeared on Prowl's face when the door-winger caught sight of him.

"My Auri," Ironhide purred softly as he came close. Auri sniffed against Prowl. "Come here," Ironhide said gently, dropping down on one knee. Prowl gave the femme-ling a little nudge, but she didn't want to go.

"Go to Ironhide." Prowl told her gently but firmly and moved her away from him. She turned and crumpled against Ironhide, who tenderly gathered her into his arms.

::I'll look after her in the entryway.:: Ironhide told Prowl over intercom. ::You finish up as soon as you can.::

Prowl nodded to him. He rose and carried Auri out, asking her if she wanted to tell him what had happened.

Prowl then hastily went back to his faucet and rinsed the soap from his legs. He rinsed the rest of his body, giving it a quick once over with his washcloth. He put the cloth into subspace once he was done. There was no way he was going to leave _anything_ in the femmes' side of the showers. Then he hurried out and went into the entryway.

Ironhide was sitting on the floor there, and Auri was sitting on his lap. She looked calmer and more reasonable. She looked up when Prowl came in.

"See? That didn't take long." Ironhide pointed out gently. Auri nodded. Then Ironhide got up, setting Auri to her feet and giving her a love-pat. "Go on." He told her.

She approached the dripping wet Commander shyly. "I am sorry that I threw a tantrum, Prowl." She said, "I freaked out at the strange circumstance and did not know how to behave properly. I… I did not mean to."

"Apology accepted." Prowl told her gently. "I am sure it was disturbing for you."

She nodded then paused. "Please…" she met his optics with a beseeching look of wistfulness, "P-please don't send me away from the office."

Prowl was fairly certain that his spark broke a little. He bowed his head. "I spoke harshly out of absolute frustration, Auri. I will not send you away from the office."

She sighed softly and looked happier. "Th-thank-you."

He nodded. Then he half-smiled. "There are not any mechs in there anymore." He said, motioning to the femmes' shower-door.

Auri smiled a little; it was a little sheepish smile. "I overreacted." She admitted.

"Yes." Prowl said, but it wasn't harsh.

Auri smiled a little smile; she knew Prowl wasn't going to sugar-coat anything, for he wouldn't be himself if he did. She went off to wash, reassured.

Prowl sighed once the door had closed behind her and allowed his wings to sag a little.

"So." Ironhide said, "Do second-in-commands drip-dry?"

Prowl's wings flitted up. "I was not about to filch any of the femmes' towels!" he was shocked at the thought.

Ironhide chuckled. "I'll get you one from the mechs' side."

Prowl frowned. "Chromia and Flareup have been in there an absurdly long time."

"Have they?" Ironhide asked, pausing with his hand at the door.

"Yes." Prowl said, eyeing the door watchfully.

Ironhide frowned speculatively and opened the door. Then he groaned and put his palm to his forehand. "Aw….!"

Prowl shot him a curious upward glance.

Ironhide looked down at him reluctantly, a grimace on his face. "I had some slightly contraband very high high-grade stashed…" he trailed off.

"Ah." Prowl said. The femmes had kicked them out so they could get Ironhide's contraband…

Ironhide sighed and went in.

Chromia grinned at him. "Hey, hey! 'Bout time yah cum in, smmmmxii…!" she slurred. Flareup giggled.

"Are you overcharged, too?" Ironhide asked Flareup suspiciously.

She giggled and grinned. "No-ot very." She managed to say, "Sir." She added before she hiccupped. She giggled some more. "Wulll… maybe a lil'…?"

Ironhide raised an optic-ridge. "They're both completely…"

"Yes." Said Prowl, eyeing them. If he hadn't said anything, they might never have noticed him, but he did, so they did.

"Ooooohum." Chromia said. "Weh haz _two_ smexies in here."

Prowl stiffened, a disconcerted look on his face.

Flareup snickered happily. "Om, thuh hottie duh'winger." She said, ogling Prowl.

Prowl's wings twitched up in horror, and he stepped back.

"Eee'soh cute!" Flareup squeaked, grinning.

Prowl backed away several steps. "I-Ironhide…" he said, fighting a feeling of panic. "H-handle this?"

Ironhide gave him a reassuring look. "I'll take Flareup to the brig, and then I'll take Chromia-"

"Out?" Chromia asked, smirking.

"Home." Said Ironhide deliberately.

"Hurry, _please_." Prowl begged.

Ironhide nodded. "Come on, Flare. Party is over. Can you walk?" he tried to pull her to her feet. She stumbled and giggled. "That would be a no." he picked her up and put her over his shoulder. "Your punishment is gonna be double for making me carry you." He said. She giggled some more.

"Awww…!" she giggled, "Can't thuh cutie-cop carry meh?"

Prowl choked.

"Nope." Ironhide said, barely managing to keep a straight face. Once Ironhide left, Prowl stayed near the door and watched Chromia from a safe distance. She ignored him, to his vast relief.

Prowl jumped nervously when someone knocked on the door. He turned and opened it a crack. Auri was there. He glanced back at Chromia then slipped out.

"What is it?" he asked Auri gently as he closed the door behind him.

"I was wondering why you were still around and if Chromia had found her soap." Auri said, sounding a little like she was afraid of getting chewed out.

Prowl glanced at the door. "The soap was a cover-up." He said, "She actually wanted in so that she could raid some contraband high-grade."

"Oh!" Auri's door-wings flitted up, and her optics widened.

"Yes." Prowl said. "Ironhide is taking Flareup to the brig right now, and he'll be back for Chromia shortly."

"Okay…" Auri said, sorting this out. She was quiet for a couple moments then spoke again. "When are we going to your office?"

Prowl paused. "We shall go once Ironhide gets back." He decided.

"Okay." She was pleased with this answer. She looked at him speculatively for a moment. "Are you going to dry off?" she asked.

He glanced down. He still hadn't gotten to dry off, he realized. "I was going to, actually." He said. Only there wasn't any place he could dry off in private. He hesitated.

Auri motioned to the femmes' side. "You could dry off in there… if you wanted." She offered.

"Will you keep guard for me?" he asked. She nodded. "Thank-you." He said. He slipped back into the mechs' side and ignored Chromia as he grabbed a towel. He shut the door and gave Auri a bit of a half-smile in thanks. "I will hurry." He said.

Auri sat down in the entryway once Prowl had disappeared into the femmes' side of the showers. She sat halfway between the two doors. Mechs to one side, femmes to the other.

Ironhide came in and found her there writing on her data-pad. She looked up and smiled at him. "I'm keeping watch for Prowl." She said. "He's in there drying off." She motioned to the door.

"Ah." Said Ironhide. He didn't really want Auri present when he carried his overcharged Chromia through. He went over and knocked on the door. "Hey, Prowl, you done?"

Prowl slid the door open. "Very nearly. Why?"

"I want Auri in there. Chromia is very inappropriate in this condition."

Auri giggled softly. Dear silly guardians thought her beneath her years a little.

"I just need to do my wings." Prowl said.

Ironhide gave a soft impatient grunt and grabbed the towel from Prowl.

"NNNO!" Prowl yelled as Ironhide took him by the arm. Then he stood still in angry indignation as Ironhide quickly dried the wings.

"Done." Ironhide said. "Out, Prowl. In, Auri."

Prowl came out, giving Ironhide a dark look. Auri scampered in quickly. "Let me know when I can come out." She chirped to Prowl then closed the door. She waited a couple minutes, and then Prowl tapped lightly on the door.

"All clear?" she asked.

"All clear." Prowl said, and Auri came out. She looked up at him and thought that he looked a little haggard.

"Are you alright?" she asked gently.

His look softened a little. "I got a bit stressed out." He admitted. "I should be fine now."

"I promise to be good for you." she promised winningly. It made a bit of a half-smile touch his mouth.

"Thank-you." He said. "Shall we go now?"

She nodded. He opened the main door for her, and they went out.

Prowl chuckled softly, startling Auri, causing her to look up at him swiftly. He glanced down and found her looking curious. "That," he motioned back to the bathhouse, "That is one reason why I avoid washing around other bots." He explained as they walked away together, "So much hassle and drama."

Auri giggled. "It is not always like that, Prowl." She said with a laugh. "That was an exception rather than a rule."

"The odds are a little high, though." He said, making Auri smile.

"Well, now that Ironhide's –er… the mechs' contraband high-grade stash has been cleaned out, the odds will be lower now." Auri pointed out.

Prowl pulled out his data-pad. "That reminds me that I must make a note to tend to this contraband business…" he kept walking as he made a quick note. Auri, out of curiosity, stopped walking. Prowl stopped walking but continued writing. Auri watched him in amusement. He glanced up. "What?" he asked, feeling that he'd missed something.

"It was an experiment." Auri said. "I wanted to see if you'd keep walking or not if I stopped."

"I _can_ multitask." Prowl said, having to work to keep from looking bemused.

"As my experiment showed."

"What if I do not wish to be a test subject?" Prowl asked as they resumed their walk to the office.

"Test subjects rarely have a say in these matters." Auri said with a sage tone that made Prowl chuckle. She glanced up at him curiously. "That's the second time you've chuckled this evening." She marveled.

He felt rather surprised, but then he realized that it was true. He shifted a wing a little. "It does feel good to be free from Med-Bay." He said, "I think… that is it."

"Okay." Auri said.

"I will probably be all grim tomorrow." He added.

Auri smiled. "I do think the stoicism will do you well tomorrow, or you will be climbing walls in exasperation."

"Oh. I hope it is not as bad as that…!"

Auri grinned mischievously. "I may exaggerate a little so that you will not find it as bad as you expect."

"That would complicate things, my Auri, for then I would grow accustomed to you exaggerating, and then I would discount your words. But, I would also be concerned over them because I would be uncertain as to the extent that you were exaggerating. Exaggerations are messy."

"And illogical." Auri added with a smile directed upwards at him.

"That, too." He said, meeting her optics for a moment with a half-smile. An approaching figure had his attention the next second. His battle-center was never quite offline, and it always registered everyone as a possible threat at first glance. Second glances were always required. It was Hot-Rod.

"Good evening." He greeted.

"Hello!" Hot-Rod greeted in return, sharing a grin with Auri. "Not overcharged, are you?" he asked playfully.

Auri giggled. "Oh, no, Roddy!" she tried to hide a grin behind delicate fingertips as her optics sparkled in amusement. "I'm underage yet, and Ironhide would spank me into the next week if I did such a thing."

"Aw, well, after I saw him carrying Flareup and then go by again with Chromia, I kinda started to worry that the three of you had gotten into something."

"No. Just the two of them." Auri said with a shake of her head.

"Next year," he suggested. Prowl frowned at him but went unnoticed because of Auri's presence.

Auri giggled and shook her head. "No, no, Roddy."

Hot-Rod grinned. "Oh, we'll see."

"No, we won't." Auri said, still smiling as she reached over to smack his arm lightly.

"Aw… So tough." He pretended to be hurt, "But what makes you so sure that-"

"Hot-Rod," Prowl said, moving closer to Auri, "I believe you have better things to do."

"Better than what?" Hot-Rod asked innocently, surprised by Prowl's sudden intrusion.

"Better than teasing an underage femme about getting overcharged." Prowl said levelly.

Hot-Rod raised his hands, expressing his puzzlement at Prowl's slightly hostile manner. "She's just barely underage, and we joke and tease each other all the time. I meant nothing inappropriate."

"And _that's good_ because I would have had you on the pavement if you _had_ meant something inappropriate."

Hot-Rod blinked. And then he blinked again. He eyed Prowl watchfully then turned to Auri. "I meant nothing inappropriate, Aurilaze. I hope you didn't take me wrong. I think it's good and praiseworthy that you heed Ironhide's wishes."

Auri nodded her understanding and gave him a smile.

"I will see you later." He told her. "Have a good evening." He said to both of them. Then he went past and went on his way.

Auri looked up at Prowl with a bit of surprise showing on her face. "Was… did you really need to jump on him like that?" she asked, trying to understand this strange behavior.

Prowl turned so that they were facing each other. "Perhaps I did not." He said, studying her face, "Hot-Rod can go too far without realizing it, however. He has in the recent past. I reacted according to that."

Auri nodded thoughtfully as she considered this.

"Hot-Rod would never intentionally cause you trouble, but you need to be careful in his company." Prowl added.

Auri nodded again. "I understand." She said.

"Good." He said. Then he touched her shoulder lightly as a signal that they were moving on. They resumed a conversation as they continued on their way to the office, and Auri was happy about it.

The lights were still on in the office when they arrived. Opening the door, Prowl let Auri enter first.

"Whoa, no you don't!" Ultra Magnus objected.

"What?" Prowl asked as he came in.

"Oh." Magnus said, looking less panicked and merely haggard. "I thought…" his optics settled on Auri, who smiled. "I would get into trouble about six different ways if she was found here at this hour."

Prowl half-smiled. "Yes… the guardianship can be pretty stern about her working overtime." He said rather understandingly, and Magnus nodded.

"I have special permission to help Prowl rearrange things this evening." Auri explained.

"You are back then?" Magnus asked Prowl eagerly.

"Yes." Prowl replied with a nod.

"You are… more than welcome."

Prowl actually smiled.

"I was just about to leave for the night…" Magnus said, and both door-wingers had the feeling that he was afraid that he would have to stay because of them.

"I will not detain you." Prowl said soothingly. "Go. I am certain that you have earned a good rest. Auri has spoken of your extensive work for the office, and I must applaud you for your efforts. We owe much to your service."

Ultra Magnus had not been expecting this, and it rather touched him. This was down-right astonishing to the tall commander. He'd been expecting Prowl to be cross about his failings…. Instead he had Prowl thanking him for what he had done. "Ah… well, thank-you." He managed to say.

Prowl nodded. "You are welcome. Enjoy your evening."

"You… too..." Magnus said slowly in amazement. "I will report to you in the morning in case you have any questions."

"I would appreciate that." Prowl said. Then Magnus left and went on his way. Prowl glanced around his office, noting how badly everything was out of place before he noticed that Auri was looking at him with a thoughtful smile. He gave her a questioning look.

"It was nice of you to thank and praise him for his work instead of griping at him for messing everything up." She explained.

This gave Prowl pause, and he frowned ever so slightly. "I do gripe at bots a lot, do I not…" he murmured.

Auri nodded after a slight hesitation.

"He did not deserve to be griped at, I do not think." Prowl said, looking around, trying to gain his bearings. "I may change my mind later…" he said, starting to wonder how long it would take them to put things back in place.

"I know where most stuff is." Auri said, using a reassuring tone. "How do you wish to proceed?"

"The desk first." Prowl said without hesitation. It was like his command post, the center of his world.

"Okay." Auri said. "I mean, 'understood.'"

The two door-wingers proceeded to take everything out of the top drawers of the desk and put it on top of the desk. This cleared space in the drawers so that they could put the "right" things back in.

"Second drawers down now," Prowl said, opening the one on the right. Auri got the left.

"Oooooh-!" Auri exclaimed. "That's where this went. I was looking for fifteen minutes for it yesterday." Prowl turned and managed to not smile at the sight of Auri examining a certain sticker-covered data-pad with glee. She looked up and saw him watching and smiled sheepishly. "Magnus probably dumped it in there quickly when somebody came in." she decided.

Prowl nodded. "No doubt." He said, fighting a smile. Poor Magnus.

A little while later, Auri declared the drawer clear, and she was pleased to add that she'd been able to restore several things to the top drawers.

"Good." Prowl said, and they went on.

Then the phone rang from beneath a pile of data-pads, styluses, and candy wrappers. Auri gasped.

Prowl shot her a questioning look as he rose and began digging for the phone.

"Don't-!" she said, jumping up and putting her hands under his to stop him. "It's Ratchet." She explained.

Prowl smiled and gently pushed her hands away with one hand as he picked up the phone with the other. "Good evening," he greeted.

"Prowl-!" Ratchet confirmed Auri's fears. Prowl gave Auri a brief nod of confirmation.

"Good evening, Ratchet. Do you need something?" Prowl asked courteously.

"I need to know what you're doing in your office at this hour!" The medic was not pleased with him.

"I am merely reorganizing the place so that I can start work without delay in the morning."

"Uh-uh-uh-huh. And what did I say about overtime?"

"This is not overtime." Prowl said, smiling at Auri to dissuade her from looking anxious. "I have worked no hours this day; there, I am simply taking a later shift."

There was a pause on the other end as Ratchet decided whether or not to let this go. "Oh, very well." He huffed, "But what about Auri?"

Prowl hesitated. There could be trouble here. "What about Auri?" he asked.

"And what has been said about _her_ working overtime?" the medic demanded.

Prowl pursed his lips. They were in trouble now. He looked over at the little femme, noting that the anxious look had returned. "I will have to look that up." He said, "Please hold while I double-check that."

"No, don't you-!" Ratchet was put on hold.

Auri covered her mouth, but she could not hide her widened optics from Prowl.

Prowl gazed at her thoughtfully. "That will make him mad." He said, his tone retrospective.

Auri nodded her head in agreement with his statement, but he had the feeling that she was delighted with and amused by his renegade action. For some reason, bots always seemed to derive some sort of delight from the mild misbehavior of their higher-ups.

Prowl straightened some data-pads. "So, we need to figure out what to tell him. Or, rather, I need to, since I am responsible here."

"I have permission from Ironhide, so that should be enough." Auri said, shrugging.

"No shrugging." Prowl reminded her. "But Ratchet cannot well argue if Ironhide has given his permission. Thus, you are clear." He tapped his fingers on the desk speculatively and then picked up the phone. "R…" he lowered the phone then hung it up. "Ratchet hung up." He said, eying the phone. "I daresay we have only a limited amount of time before he comes in here personally to reprimand us."

"Aren't I innocent, though?" Auri asked, blinking her optics in play-confusion.

"'Am I not.'" Prowl corrected. "And the answer is 'no.' Ratchet believes everybody guilty until proven innocent. Hence you will be guilty until we manage to convince him otherwise."

"Oh…"

The door banged open. "You asked for it." Ratchet said, stomping in.

Auri gasped and scampered over to Ratchet. "For what, Ratchet?" she asked, her voice high with the tone of innocent surprise. Prowl eyed her, thinking her manner a little strange.

Ratchet paused. The little femme put her hand on his and gazed up at him with wide wondering optics. Ratchet melted a little, and Prowl realized what Auri was doing. Femme wiles. He wasn't sure that he altogether approved of this.

"Well," Ratchet said, "Prowl put me on hold when I asked about you working over time."

Auri looked over at Prowl and then back at Ratchet. "Is that _wrong_?" she asked.

"N… no. He just has a habit of never taking me _off_ hold once he puts me on it."

"But he did pick up the phone again this time." She said earnestly.

Ratchet regarded Prowl with less ire. "And what was he going to tell me?"

"I have permission from Ironhide."

Ratchet frowned. "Do you?"

Auri nodded. "He's very agreeable, you know. And besides, with Prowl back, I won't be working as much, so a little bit extra just this one night won't hurt."

The medic hesitated. Auri maintained her earnest gaze. "Oh, all right." Ratchet said. "Just this one night, though."

Auri nodded.

"Okay." Ratchet turned to leave. "Don't stay up too late, either of you."

"Yes, sir." Auri said.

"Yes, sir." Prowl echoed quietly.

Once the door was closed behind the medic, Auri sighed in relief.

"Well played." Prowl said.

Auri grinned.

"Do not ever do that with me, though."

The grin dropped instantly, and Auri shook her head. "Oh, Prowl, I never would." She said sincerely.

"Good." He said.

"I usually don't with anybody, but in emergencies with Ratchet, I do." She added. "He's susceptible to it for some reason."

Prowl paused. How was he supposed to reply to that?

"I will get back to work." Auri said, giving him an understanding look. Sometimes she was too much for his logicalness, and she knew it.

Prowl nodded, and she went down on her knees to go through the bottom drawer on her side of the deck. He watched her work for a moment. The innocent optics had been rather cute.

* * *

Remember, I'm a page on facebook, as is Auri. And I'm on deviantArt, so look me up there if you like and join my group for Bots and Cons. :) Links are on my FFN profile page. ;)


	76. Chptr 76, The Highly Anticipated Chapter

I _almost_ got to post this chapter before I went to Spanish class, but then I didn't quite have time. So. It's 75 minutes later than I had planned.

Four-year college is good so far. New apartment is still delightful (but it's gotten cold here, so the apartment is a little chilly since I don't turn the heat up much).

I'm having fun with my little collection of Transformers action figures. I've been doing and making humorous photos of them (captions, you know), and a photo comic or two. Those are on DA if anyone wants to see… ;)

For all those who've been eagerly awaiting the day when the twins' evil plan is revealed and Prowl lights into them, this chapter is THE one. ;)

* * *

Chapter 76

**The Highly Anticipated Chapter**

They had been working for a while, and Auri was pretending to not be tired at all when she realized that Prowl had come over to her. She turned and smiled at him.

"It is time for you to go home." Prowl told her, and this made her frown.

"We have just an hour's amount of work, though." She pointed out. "We could be done soon."

"Yes, we _could_ be done soon, but I am in command here, so we are going to be done now." Prowl told her firmly. She glanced down but then looked up at him.

"Yes, sir." She said. She knew that she should have known better than to talk back –albeit slightly- to him. She put away what she was working on and turned to tell him good night, but she found that he was waiting by the door. "You are leaving, too?" she asked.

He nodded. "It would be imprudent of me to test Ratchet this soon after my release." He explained.

Auri giggled. "You're on probation, are you?" she teased.

"In a manner of speaking, yes." Prowl decided to be tolerant one more time even though his logic center was strongly advising against it. He held the door for her then locked it and turned out the lights. Auri went on up the road.

It was a lovely night, and she liked the quietness of the last hour. She'd never liked walking around when it was late on Cybertron because it had been a bad area, but here she felt perfectly safe.

Or she thought she did. She jumped when Prowl came up from behind her. She blinked at him and calmed herself.

"I did not realize that I was that scary." Prowl said apologetically as he fell into step beside her.

"Oh, you're not." Auri said, "I just was not expecting you."

"I see." He said and had nothing to say afterwards. He had wanted to make a little joke about being law enforcement and thus being scary, but he couldn't push away the overwhelming logic against it.

Auri smiled a little and enjoyed her walk with him beside her in companionable silence. Now she felt absolutely safe. It would have been nice to have had such an escort when she'd lived on Cybertron. Nobody would have scared her then. She could have said "boo" to anybody, and they would have left. The thought appealed to her, making her chuckle.

"Now you are the chuckling one." Prowl commented.

"That is not unusual for me, though." She pointed out.

"What was amusing this time?" he asked, and she told him. It made him cock a wing in wonder at what she'd experienced on Cybertron, and it made him half-smile at her imagination. It also pleased him that she thought him a good protector.

"What _are_ your quarters?" she asked suddenly as if she didn't even think he any.

Prowl bit back a smile. "Contrary to rumor and lore, I do have quarters." He replied.

"Rumor and lore!" Auri exclaimed indignantly. "As if I would believe…" she broke off and looked inscrutable.

"I have heard strange tales about myself that originated from the twins."

"You're avoiding my question." Auri decided, not wanting to admit that she had heard various random things from the twins.

"Very well." Prowl said. "I live in a hole under a rock."

Auri shot him a look. "Now you're teasing me." She said, trying to decide whether to be pleased or annoyed.

"I am." He said. "I have nice quarters on the far side of the other quartering complex."

"Oh. Okay."

They walked in companionable silence for a while, and then Auri stopped at the door to her guardians' quarters. Prowl stopped beside her and glanced curiously at her to find that she looked sad.

"Why this sudden sadness?" he asked.

"I feel badly for Chromia and Flareup stuck in the brig tonight while I get to sleep on my nice couch."

"They knew the consequences before they got started." Prowl said logically, "Besides, Chromia is not in the brig. Ironhide brought her here."

There was a pause as Auri thought about this. Then, "Eeugh. That's… eew."

Prowl realized what she was thinking and shook his head. "Ironhide wouldn't…" he trailed off and shook his head.

Auri looked at him.

"Too much high-grade, especially the contraband stuff, makes Chromia quite sick in the morning." He explained, "Ironhide brought her here so that the unfortunate who has brig-duty doesn't have to deal with that hassle and her temper."

"Are you sure…?" Auri asked.

"I am sure." Prowl said firmly, "Ironhide explained it to me once. He would never…" he shrugged a door-wing uncomfortably. "There is no '_action'_ when she is overcharged."

This (to Prowl's vast relief) convinced Auri. "Okay." She said, and then she keyed in the code to the door. Prowl opened it for her, she went in. Prowl followed, intending to have a brief word with Ironhide about a certain ticket.

Auri stopped, pausing at the sight of her guardians. Ironhide was sitting on the couch, and Chromia was reclining on the couch, partway on his lap with her head against his chest.

Chromia glanced up at the newcomers with drowsy half-interest, and Ironhide regarded the little door-wingers thoughtfully. "Work done for tonight?" he asked in a gentle tone. Auri and Prowl both nodded. "I guess we'd better be getting up then," he started to move, but Chromia groaned.

"Aw… don' move…"

"Prowl brought Auri home, and she needs to sleep here." Ironhide told her, motioning to them.

She eyed them lazily with no recognition. "Him's kin'a cute…" she slurred offhandedly.

"He's been told that already." Ironhide said, trying to repress a smile at Prowl's discomfort. "Come on up. We'll find a more comfortable place."

Chromia eyed at Prowl hard. "He'za cop?" She asked confusedly as Ironhide helped her up.

"Yes. We need to move on."

"Ughhh… kay. Whullll… him's cute fo a cop…"

Ironhide tried not to grin.

"Just move on and I won't book you." Prowl threatened.

"Thangs, cop." Chromia slurred appreciatively. Ironhide picked her up gently and took into the other room.

Prowl sighed once they were out of sight, and his tense door-wings lowered.

"Thank-you for walking me home." Auri said, hoping Chromia hadn't made him too stressed out.

"You are welcome," Prowl said hesitantly. "I was meaning to speak to Ironhide about the contraband, but I believe it would be better to wait until tomorrow."

"Ugh, yes, please wait until tomorrow." Ironhide said, coming back in. "I've got enough to stress about tonight." He added, rubbing his neck.

"Very well." Prowl said. "No doubt you will be busy in the morning, so I will talk to you sometime in the afternoon."

"I appreciate the deferral." Ironhide said with a nod of respect.

"I appreciate you letting Auri stay late to help me reorganize." Prowl replied.

"And that was fun, I'm sure." Ironhide said, letting his optics rest fondly on his little femme. She smiled back at him and nodded.

"It was." Prowl said. "But I must say good night now. Pleasant recharge."

"Pleasant recharge." Auri told him.

"To bed with you now." Ironhide told her as he moved to see Prowl out the door. "Good night, cutie cop." He said in low teasing tone, his hand on the door as Prowl exited.

Prowl turned and gave him a look. "Do not say that around anybody." He said.

"You know I wouldn't." Ironhide reassured him.

"What I _do not_ know is why over-energized femmes find me cute."

Ironhide smiled enigmatically. "Femmes are puzzling creatures." He said, "Good night."

"Good night." Prowl said then left.

Ironhide smirked as he closed the door. What Prowl didn't know wouldn't embarrass him. Femmes in general found him cute. It was only the over-energized ones that told him he was.

OoOoOoOoOoOoO

Prowl saw Auri very early the following morning. It was when he entered the pub to get his breakfast. She was sitting in the pub and sipping an Energon cube at the counter. He went over after a moment's hesitation.

"Good morning." He said.

"Good morning," she replied, giving him her cheerful morning smile.

"May I join you?" he asked. She nodded, pleased at having company. He sat and motioned to Mirage that he wanted his usual.

Mirage gave him a wary look and slid his usual to him. "Thank-you, Mirage." he said then turned back to Auri. "Is…?" he left the sentence hang.

Auri raised an optic-ridge. "Chromia's rather sick." She said. "And miserable. Flareup, I went to see. She was pretty upset with herself. And she has a headache. And Ironhide has a headache, too. From the stress. I think I'm the only one left in our household without some sort of pain." She concluded with a sigh. Then she sipped some more of her breakfast. "Did you finish up organizing the office?"

"Without your assistance when I said you could help? Of course not." He said, rather displeased at this illogical distrust.

"Well, I… nevermind." She said. "Since I am up and about already, may I start early?"

"I am not altogether certain that your guardians would approve. You did take a lot more overtime than you _ever_ should have."

Auri looked sideways at him, hearing the rebuke in his tone. "You looked at my timecards."

"I did." He said sternly.

Auri looked down.

"I appreciate your dedication, but I will not permit you to sacrifice yourself." he said less sternly.

"Yes, sir." Auri said. "I will come in at my regular time, then." She heaved a little sigh then sipped some more Energon. Then she wiped her mouth quickly, eager to speak, "Are you going to straighten everything out with my horrid-liaison?" she asked hopefully.

Prowl frowned at her. "You are _not_ to ever refer to your or any liaison like that." He told her quietly. "You may say 'my liaison,' or 'Agent Sora,' or 'Miss Amy' as you have, but calling her 'my horrid-liaison' is not to be tolerated."

"Yes, sir." Auri said,

"Our words have much weight-"

"Oh, please do not lecture me in a public place…!" Auri begged, ashamed at the thought.

Prowl paused. "I do not enjoying lecturing anyone publically," he said in a low voice, "But you spoke publically, and this needs to be addressed immediately. Understand?"

Auri nodded. "Yes, sir." She said, then Prowl talked to her quietly about how and, more importantly, _why_, she was to speak about her liaison in a certain way. It was a thorough lecture although it wasn't very long. Prowl made sure that he made his point, but he kept his voice down so Auri wouldn't feel so much like she was getting called down in front of "everybody." There were only half a dozen bots in the pub, but Prowl knew that it mattered to her, so he was careful.

"And in answer to your question," he added when the lecture was over with, "Yes, I am going to straighten things out with your liaison. I have already begun work on it, actually."

"Thank-you." Auri said, but she felt rather subdued now. Prowl gave her a half-sympathizing look and then changed the subject so that she could talk about something that she liked as they finished their Energon.

By and by the Energon cubes were emptied, and Auri, tilting her head back quite far, made sure that every last bit of Energon was gone from her cube.

"See you later." She told Prowl when they parted at the door.

"See you later." Prowl echoed.

OooOOooOOooO

Amy sighed as she went out to her car.

"I'm betting a double chocolate fudge sundae that there's gonna be some _inexplicable_ problem…" she muttered despondently to herself as she got out her keys. The door unlocked and opened fine, so she got in and dropped her notepad and purse in the passenger seat and buckled her seatbelt.

Insert key in ignition.

Turn.

Listen to rasping noise.

Watch smoke appear from under the hood.

Grab things.

Exit vehicle.

Slam door.

Curse.

She kicked the tire for good measure, and then pulled out her phone. She sincerely hoped that Auri was in a nice mood. "Car won't start. Would you please come get me?" She texted. She sent the text and paced a little while she waited for a reply. Auri always replied within a minute, but no reply came even after two minutes.

Amy began to walk up the street. She'd worn comfortable flats this time. No heels. She tried calling Lennox's phone, but she got a busy signal and no voicemail option. She hung up on the buzzing sound and continued to walk. She walked and walked.

Eventually she came to the place where she'd been supposed to meet Auri. Auri was there, sitting cross-legged on the grass and studying a data-pad like she didn't care about anything in the whole world.

"Good morning." Auri said politely as she looked over.

"Good morning." Amy said. "Sorry I'm late."

"I'm…" Auri trailed off. She'd been about to say "_I'm used to it now,_" but that would have been horrid, and Prowl would have lectured her into tears. "Hoping you had a nice breakfast." She substituted, and then she realized how lame that sounded.

"Thank-you." Amy said. She knew. "Well…" she sat down on the bench near Auri. "I was thinking about school this morning."

Auri eyed her neutrally.

"What was school like on Cybertron?" she asked.

Auri thought about this. "It depended on who you were and where you lived and what time you were living." She said.

"Like on earth." Amy said. "What was your schooling experience?" she decided a more specific answer would get the little bot talking better.

"Oh, I wasn't sent to school. My guardian stayed and taught me." Auri said.

"And why…?"

Auri shifted both wings up then down. "Well, he wasn't going to send me out among a bunch of rabble. Besides, there was a war starting, and he didn't want me getting kidnapped."

"Oh…"

"Yes." Auri said firmly. She wasn't entirely sure, though.

"Did you… were there some other sparklings that you got to play with, though?"

"You think I wasn't socialized!" Auri accused angrily.

Amy blinked at her, taken aback at this sudden outburst. "I did not mean that," she said gently, "I apologize if it sounded like I did."

"Don't patronize me." Auri told her haughtily. "Of course I played with other sparklings."

"Did you play with lots of other sparklings, or just a few? Were they neighbors? Or did you guardian take you to activities…?"

"I only played with _two_ other sparklings. Nobody else was good enough for him to let them over. He was very, very particular." Auri said, and seemed odd to be saying these things. "And they were neighbors. He only let them come sometimes because they were mech-lings and little rough at times."

"Ah. Were they brothers?"

"They were twins." Auri said, "That is probably why I like Sunny and Sides. Because they're twins."

"I would like to know more about twins Transformers. Twin humans tend to be very interesting."

"I will have to tell you about twins later." Auri said, rising. "I have to go to the office now for an hour of work before I go on my patrol. I might see you in two hours if you come on time."

"Thank-you." Amy said. She ground her teeth as she watched the little bot walk away. That last remark had been pretty stinking rude. For a moment, Amy had a brief fantasy in which Auri was very little, and she picked the offending femme-ling up and smacked her little behind quite hard and told her how rude she'd been and that such rudeness was not to be tolerated.

Amy sighed. A human hand probably wouldn't make much impact on a metal behind, anyway. She turned and went off to claim her double chocolate sundae.

The waiter and chef were very obliging at the shop that she found, and she made her special order. After a short wait, she found herself presented with a dish with a large brownie underneath a generous scoop of chocolate ice cream. Chocolate syrup had been drizzled over the whole thing, and cholcolate chips had been sprinkled on top unsparingly.

She thanked the waiter and then she was left to her dessert. She supposed the delicious thing probably had a shocking amount of calories in it, but with all the walking that she's been doing would balance it out, she told herself. She dove in and enjoyed it in a miserable sort of way.

Once she finished the treat and paid for it, she headed on foot to the next place where she was going to meet Auri. Sure, it wasn't for another hour, but she never knew what ill fate would befall her on the way. She could sit and write while she waited, anyway.

It was a pretty quiet part of town that she was walking through after a few blocks. The place was fairly deserted, and she only saw one car cross an intersection ahead. She walked a little faster. It wasn't safe to be alone.

OoOoOoOoOoO

Auri had helped Prowl finish reorganizing his office, but she hadn't much enjoyed it. The mech had been frowning at his computer when she'd arrived, and the grimness had never left his face while they worked. He'd been patient with her, and in no way had he hurt her feelings, but it was a let down from last night's friendly camaraderie.

They finished, and Prowl thanked her, added a couple words of praise, and then went back to his desk. Auri went to her computer and began to type away.

"Aurion." Prowl levelly said after a few minutes of looking at various data-pads and clicking at his computer.

"Yes, sir?" Auri asked, fearing that she'd done something quite wrong.

"Go take your patrol now. I know it is sixteen minutes early, but I need… just go."

"Yes, sir." Auri said. She quickly saved her work and shut down the computer. Then she slipped out of the room as quietly as she could.

Prowl clenched his fist as he studied the data that he'd retrieved and arranged. He'd started this project last night, and now it was almost complete. He'd been digging into Agent Sora on behalf of Auri, and he'd logically pieced several things together that suggested that the twins might have been tampering with her life. He'd focused on the twins, then, too. And Bee's recent report on the twins gave him a few weird details.

Another minute, and the Prowl would have all the video footage from the various surveillance cameras pieced together, and then he would know what and exactly how much the twins had been up to.

The minute passed. Prowl watched the pieced videos in fast-forward, slowing them occasionally. His wings rose angrily as he watched. His tactician's processor fit the evidence together. His optics snapped as it all clicked together.

He stopped the videos.

"Damn." He never used strong language, but now he did, just that one word once and very quietly.

The twins.

Had.

Been.

Sabotaging.

Agent Sora.

Deliberately.

Viciously.

Mercilessly.

And she was to write a complete report on it for her higher-ups.

He put the data-pads into a drawer and closed it gently. The twins had completely undermined everything that the Autobots stood for.

The Autobots were supposed to be good, caring, virtuous noble beings who looked out for one another and had compassion on other species.

And the twins had just ruined an innocent woman's reputation for kicks.

And she was to report it all. She would tell the truth, and all who read her reports would believe that the Autobots were cruel and sadistic. Exhibit A, regard how they brutally made her life a hell and ruined her reputation.

Important and powerful people were wary of the metal titans as it was. The report would make things worse.

Prowl clutched his head at the thought of the myriad of ways that the twins' actions would threaten Autobot-human relations. The Autobots were ruined. And if not ruined, at least utterly humiliated.

He saved his work and shut down his computer. He had to go. The twins had to be stopped. Prime had to be told. Auri had to be told. Everybody had to be told. Agent Sora had to be apologized to publically.

And all the Bots would be shamed.

OoOoOoOoOoO

Agent Sora's pulse jumped when she saw twin sports cars pull up to the intersection that she was coming to. _The_ twins. She had the distinct feeling that they were out to get her. She slowed her pace. Should she turn around and run? Should she confront them?

She jumped as they started to transform. She back away as they began to walk towards her. She glanced up at the street signs. Dover and Twenty-Third. She backed away more quickly then turned and began to walk quickly as she grabbed her phone. "_Pls com 2 Dover and 23 fast. Im scared!_" she texted Auri.

"We aren't here to cause trouble," one of the twins said. The yellow one. Sunny.

"We just wanted to talk to you," the other one, Sides, said as he hurried ahead. She was rather trapped now. Cornered. And she hadn't heard them talk a lot, but she was pretty sure they were using a different tone of voice than she'd heard them use before.

"What do you want to talk to me about?" she asked guardedly. The phone vibrated. She glanced down and saw a single-word reply. "_Coming._"

"It's sort of a long story." Sides said, crouching down. Amy backed up against the building. Her heart was pounding rapidly, like it did after a hard run.

"Yeah…" Sunny said, looking down. He crouched down, too. Amy bit her lip.

"WHAT ARE YOU DOING TO MY LIAISON?!" Auri yelled, running up.

The twins got up and stared at her. Auri planted her little hands and her hips. "You're scaring her! She may be a glickety nasty-ug, but you're not ever allowed to scare her!"

The twins looked from Auri to Amy and then looked down and away. "We didn't mean to be scaring her." Sunny said.

"W-we just needed to talk to her." Sides said.

"About what?!" Auri demanded.

"W-we…" Sides looked down hard. "We…"

"We've been framing her." Sunny said, barely lifting his optics to look Auri in the face. Amy saw that both mechs' faces looked hot. They had the decency to blush.

"You've been _framing_ her?" Auri stared at them.

They nodded.

Auri looked down and thought about this. Then she really got mad. She slammed her little fist into Sides. "How _could_ you!" she cried, "HOW _COULD_ YOU?"

Sunny's gently pulled her back as she tried to hit Sides again. She hit Sunny. "You meanies! You bullies!" she cried. Sides tried to put a hand on her shoulder and get her to stop but she jerked away and slapped his hand away.

"Auri, listen,"

She punched Sunny,

"Listen!" Sunny begged, taking her arm gently.

She howled and started kicking him. He let go, but she kept kicking. Amy quickly backed away; if the bots were going to fight, she would be in danger if she was close.

"Stop! Please, Auri, calm down!" Sides pleaded, putting a hand on her shoulder. She went to claw him, but Sunny stopped her. She howled and pulled back.

"Auri-!" Sides gave her a tiny shake in desperation.

They all heard an engine rev angrily and looked. Prowl was accelerating towards them in car mode.

OoOoOoOoOoO

Prowl had been relatively calm when he'd left the office, but his anger had grown as his processor had continued to realize countless potential negative repercussions of the twins' deeds.

And then he'd started to think about the negative psychological impact it would have on the bots' morale. And then he thought of how traumatizing it would be to little Auri. It began to infuriate him.

He came around a corner and saw the Sides shake Auri while Sunny had her hands imprisoned, Amy cowering a safe distance in the background. Then his rage knew no bounds.

He sped up, accelerating towards the twins, plotting a collision course for them as Auri darted away. The twins were too shocked to move.

The patrol car hit the curb and went airborne, flying towards the twins.

Prowl transformed midair and slammed into Sides, connecting first with a fist then bodily. They crashed to the ground, and Prowl's momentum sent him over Sides' head in an uncontrolled flip. Prowl kicked back hard when he saw that he wasn't stopping, jerking his feet beneath him so he'd land on them instead of on his door-wings. He stumbled when he landed, but he landed on his feet then spun to launch into Sides as Sides rose.

Sides had rolled over and picked himself partway up when Prowl's knee hit him in the face. "AH-!" he jerked himself to full height as his head flew back, but Prowl's foot slammed into his midsection, making him double over in pain. "WH-?" He saw a silver fist coming from the corner of his left optic, and he dropped to the ground to avoid the blow. He rolled to dodge another kick then he jumped up and caught two punches full in the face. One, two! Hard. And a slam in the midsection. Sides stumbled backwards and raised his arms to protect his face, but Prowl didn't back off; he went for Sides' ribbing. "AH-!"

Sunny jumped forwards as Sides took another hit.

"STOP!" he yelled at Prowl as he skated between the enraged Bot and his twin. He saw blazing blue optics for a second and then he was looking at the pavement with a screaming pain in his jaw. He jumped up and threw himself into Prowl, causing the door-winger to stumble to the side. He slammed his fist into Prowl's silver midsection, ducked a reply blow, and then slammed his fist into Prowl jaw.

Prowl rammed his fist up Sunny's middle, raking the golden bot's paint with his knuckles as he brought his knee up hard and fast and kicked Sunny in the upper leg.

By now Sides had overcome his initial shock. He stood and shook his head for a second, then skated towards chaos. He skated in an arch and came around behind Prowl fast. He came from Prowl's right and went behind him, but he grabbed Prowl's wing and wrenched it downwards and didn't let go as he continued forward.

Prowl screeched -it was a horrible sound- and dropped to his knees to break Sides' hold. Then he was up again the second Sides' hand released him and flying into Sides. Sides hit the ground facedown and screamed as Prowl dug his knees into Sides' legs and slammed his fist into his lower midsection. "Sunny-!" Sides screamed.

Sunny stumbled into Prowl, knocking him partway off his brother. The door-winger pounced on him and raked his shoulder, stripping golden paint from its armoring and going deep enough to cut into sensitive nerve wiring. And a sharp pain screamed in his upper leg and in his pelvis. He got his arm up just in time to protect the side of his face from a door-wing, edgewise.

OoOoOoOoO

Ironhide was reclining in the lounge. He idly watched Springer trying to flirt with Moonracer. The femme clearly wasn't interested. Lennox was with Ironhide, a cool soft drink in his hand. He was sitting on the armrest sideways and leaning against Ironhide shoulder. He chuckled.

"Unsympathetic." Ironhide said lazily.

"I feel for him." Lennox replied, "But it _is_ a little funny to watch him try."

"He's not good at it." Ironhide agreed. "I could flirt with her easily. I could get a couple giggles and maybe even a blush. At little harder, and I could get her to smack my arm."

Lennox chuckled. "And what would your get from Chromia?"

"You mean if I flirted with Chromia?" the mech asked with a smirk.

"If you flirted with Moonracer."

"She'd slap me lightly upside the head and say, 'Silly mech, whatchya wanna flirt with _her_ for? I can…' and I can't tell you the rest."

Lennox chuckled. "I appreciate that."

Ironhide smirked a little then glanced over at the hapless Springer again. He'd given up and wandered over the Energon stores.

"Wanna see me work?" Ironhide asked.

Lennox chuckled. "Sure." He said, moving so Ironhide could get up without him falling.

Ironhide rose with a smile.

::Ironhide! IRONHIDE! Come, come!:: Auri cried over the intercom to him. Waves of fear and anguish came flooding over their bond with the message.

::Where, spark? I'm coming.:: He sent back. He took Lennox off the couch in a second and transformed around him.

"What's wrong?" Lennox asked, grabbing a seatbelt as Ironhide sped out the door.

"Dunno." Ironhide's tires squealed as he turned onto the road. "But the call's from Auri."

Ironhide honked his horn repeatedly as he approached an intersection. Nobody got in his way.

Lennox braced his feet against the floor as Ironhide broke the speed limit and continued to accelerate. "Careful…"

Lennox's phone started buzzing. "Not a good time for a phonecall…" He said tightly, but he picked it up. Agent Sora was calling. He ground his teeth and pressed the talk button. "Hi, Sora. Now's…"

"You've got to s-send a bot," Amy gasped, "Th-the twins-! I-I…"

Lennox heard the sound of metal fists smashing in the background. "Is Auri there?" Lennox asked as Ironhide accelerated even more.

"Y-yes. Uh- n- w-well, sh-she was. She ran."

"Ironhide and I are en route. Just stay clear of whatever's going on. Okay?" he made himself sound calm even though Ironhide's speed was scaring him.

"O-okay."

The mech was nearing fifty-five miles per hour in twenty-five zone. "I'm going to hang up now, but we'll be there soon."

"O-okay…."

Lennox hung up the phone. "You heard everything?"

"Yeah." Ironhide's tone was curt. "Three fighting. So, twins and who else? Not Auri."

Lennox cursed quietly in fear as Ironhide careened around a corner. Then he gasped as he saw the three bots ahead. "Prowl!"

Ironhide honked and slowed down swiftly as he opened a door. Lennox jumped out when it was almost safe, and Ironhide kept going as the man jogged to the sidewalk.

Ironhide transformed and ran towards the fight. He could see life-Energon. Prowl and Sunny were entangled, wrestling with Sunny on the bottom as Prowl repeatedly knee-kicked Sunny and slammed his elbow into Sunny's shoulder. ::Prime! Ratchet! I need you two at these coordinates ASAP!:: Sides was rising from his hands and knees and stumbling towards Prowl and his twin.

"PROWL STAND DOWN!" Ironhide roared. Sides turned and sagged, dropping to the pavement in relief and hiding his face in his hands. Prowl didn't stop.

Ironhide was upon them now. He grabbed Prowl's arm and stopped the elbow slamming. "I said stand down." He snapped. Prowl wasn't letting go. Ironhide jerked Prowl's arm then dug his free hand into Prowl's leg armor to pinch sensitive nerve-wiring. This only incensed the door-winger more.

Ironhide ground his jaws and went for the sensitive wings. He let go of Prowl's arm and grabbed a door-wing instead. Prowl screeched when he twisted the wing. Ironhide was the new enemy. Prowl let go of Sunny and turned on Ironhide.

Ironhide shoved the smaller mech face down on the ground and pinned him there, grabbing his hands and pinning them to his back. Prowl kicked and fought his hold for a moment, but then he stopped. Ironhide could hear Ratchet's sirens getting close, and he could hear Prime blaring his horn at an intersection. He looked down and the now motionless Prowl and then looked at the twins.

Sunny had curled up protectively and was holding his hand against his shoulder. Sides had crawled over to his brother and was lying against him, with his hands clenched over his midriff. They looked awful, but Ironhide had seen much, much worse.

Ratchet pulled up and transformed. He was on his knees by the twins in a moment, gently scanning and inspecting their wounds.

A minute later, Optimus pulled up, transformed, and looked. He saw Ironhide staring down at Prowl, who was cuffed and prone on the pavement. He saw the twins, lying on the pavement while Ratchet ran a hand-held scanner over them to find the most serious injuries and ascertain the degree of damage.

"What can I do to help?" Prime asked.

"Hold Sunny still while clamp this patch on," Ratchet said tersely.

"No! Not the-!" Sunny cried, "Noo…" he whimpered.

Prime knelt and held Sunny down gently but firmly with the palms of his hands. The golden twin whimpered a little but couldn't squirm as Ratchet put a temporary patch on his upper arm circuitry.

"Take it easy." Prime told him gently.

"My paint…" Sunny whined softly.

Prime patted his good shoulder. "I am certain that that will be an easy fix once Ratchet gives you leave." He said kindly.

"_IF_ Ratchet gives you leave." Ratchet said grimly. "I should never let your two out of Med-Bay, _or_ out of my sight, you trouble-magnets."

"Lecture later." Prime told his medic quietly.

Ironhide left Prowl and came over, crouching down beside Sides. Ratchet gave him a warning look.

"What did you mechs do to set him off?" Ironhide asked softly.

"Y-you d-don't w-want to know." Sides choked out as his optics started to fill with tears. He rolled over onto his side and started to cry.

Ironhide frowned then looked around. Lennox was dealing with rerouting a Jeep and talking on his cell-phone/walkie-talkie.

Agent Sora was standing warily a good distance away, her face pale, her eyes wide, and her mouth slightly parted in shock.

Ironhide rose, intending to go talk to her, but as soon as she saw him take a step towards her, she backed up, ready to run from him. He stopped and looked over at Prime.

"_Prime_." He said in Cybertronian. Prime looked up. "_I'll do that. Agent Sora… might know what happened, but she's scared of me at present_."

Prime looked to Ratchet for permission then rose and let Ironhide take his place as Sunny's side.

Amy bit her lip as the leader of the Autobots approached her. She was going to be brave. She was going to not be terrified. She could handle this.

He started to crouch down.

She dropped her purse and bolted.

Prime watched her. It would be easy to catch her, but it would do no good and only frighten her, causing more harm. Prime carefully picked up the purse so it could be returned to her later.

"No luck." Prime said as he came back to Ironhide. "She needs time."

"I… guess she would." Ironhide said slowly. "She's never seen a fight like that one."

Prime shook his head then knelt beside Sideswipe. "Why the tears, Sideswipe?" he asked softly.

Sides choked on his tears and shook his head miserably. He needed time, too, Prime realized. And he needed comfort. "Nevermind." Prime said gently, crouching down beside him. Then the big leader gently rubbed the twin's neck to sooth him. The shuddering sobs subsided a little, and he felt the young warrior start to calm down a little.

"Sunny's ready to go Med-Bay now." Ratchet said. "Prime, will you carry him?" Prime nodded, and Ratchet went on, "Hide, you carry Sideswipe, and I'll drive ahead to get things ready for them…" he finished, but he trailed off as his optics fell on Prowl.

Prowl was still lying exactly as Ironhide had left him.

"Prowl, you transform and come with me." Ratchet said. The door-wings lowered, and then Prowl got to his hands and knees. He transformed quickly from there and waited in car-mode.

Prime picked up Sunny as carefully as he could and started towards Med-Bay. Ironhide looked at Sides. "Shall I carry you, or shall I transform and let you ride in the bed of my truck?"

A bit of a smile flickered on the twin's miserable face. "Second option sounds fun," he said sadly.

"Okay." Ironhide said. "Ratchet?" Ratchet nodded, and Ironhide transformed. Ratchet lifted Sides and settled him in Ironhide's bed.

"Mind the corners as you drive." Ratchet warned.

"Yes, sir." Ironhide said.

Ratchet transformed and drove off, Prowl following him.

Lennox came over for a lift, and Ironhide let him in his cab. Then he pulled forward carefully and started towards Med-Bay, taking a slightly different route than Ratchet. They didn't need to make a huge parade of themselves. Everyone would know something had happened soon enough. He felt himself calm down and came out of emergency mode.

Then horrible feeling slammed into him as he suddenly realized that Auri wasn't on the base anymore. Her spark signal was distant over their bond…

::Optimus!:: he hailed urgently on the intercom.

::What is it?::

::Auri- left base!::

::When?::

::I don't know. I just realized it.::

::Stay calm.:: Prime ordered. As much as he knew Ironhide wanted to go bring Auri back, he was fairly certain that the guardian was upset enough to misjudge or mishandle something if he let him go retrieve Auri. ::Sides needs you.:: he said, ::I'm sending Elita to bring her back.::

Prime received a response of anxious and angry spluttering. ::Stay calm.:: he repeated. ::Elita will bring her back. You have a job here. Understood?::

::Understood.:: Ironhide forced himself to reply. He wasn't calm, though. Not by a long shot. Auri, his little Auri, was off the base, out unprotected somewhere. And there were Decepticons on earth.

* * *

Cliffhanger…! O.o

Have fun reviewing! ;) I love everybody's reviews, and they pretty much make my day!


	77. Chapter 77, Angsty Chapter

XD You guys gave me nineteen reviews on that last chapter! -the most I've ever gotten on one chapter! Loved it! So, I managed to crank out an earlier update for you guys, especially since I left you all on a cliffhanger back there.

* * *

Chapter 77

**Angsty Chapter**

Auri brushed at her optics. Her twins had tricked her cruelly, and they'd tricked her into being mean to a liaison who was probably actually quite nice. Oh, but how would her liaison ever forgive all the mean and nasty things they'd done to her? And how would everybody respond when they found out what had happened? The bots would be completely ashamed, every last one of them, of this heinous crime.

She wasn't even sure if "heinous" was the right word. It just sounded bad. She started to cry some more.

She wanted to run away. She really, really wanted to run away.

It wouldn't be safe off base, but that was the only place she could think of to run away to.

She could go for five minutes, she decided. Cons wouldn't find her in five minutes. She could run away and to cry somewhere else for five minutes and then come back and hide and cry some more.

She went and programmed the ground bridge to the place where she had had that accident in the mountains. She had liked that place despite that fact that she and the twins and Bee had gotten badly hurt there. There had been something comforting about the area.

Five minutes, she told herself, smudging tears with her fingers.

She went, and the trees were pretty. The air had a different smell than the air on base. It was a good place to cry.

She sat down on a boulder. Remember, just five minutes, she told herself as she sobbed into her little hands.

Soundwave was there in two minutes, though.

Soundwave had been watching and waiting for a chance to capture the little pink femme-ling. He'd been rather irked with himself for hesitating the last time he'd had the chance. After the close call, he'd known that Ironhide would guard the little one and never let her out of his sight off base. Any guardian would do the same.

He'd been right, too. She'd never been off base since the accident and near-kidnapping. He didn't blame Ironhide for it. He would keep her away from the other faction, too, if he had her. But, he didn't have her. He never gave up hope, though. Someone had to slip up sometime, he knew. The Cons slipped up now and then; surely the Bots would, too. His chance would come again. He waited for it. He kept a watch.

Thus, he knew the instant Auri's little peddes touched the ground off-base. He knew the coordinates, too. And he knew she was alone. She was his.

He slipped away immediately and powered up his private ground bridge to go retrieve _his_ femme-ling. No hesitation this time, he told himself. He would not lose her again.

Going through the bridge quickly and quietly, he came to the area where Auri was. He paused at the sight of her sitting on a rock and crying.

The telepath picked up tremendous waves of grief, anxiety, and confusion coming from her, as well as emotional pain. It twisted a bit of his spark to see her so upset.

He knew she had weapons on her, and he knew she could draw quickly. Her mind was unguarded, though, preoccupied with her grief. He could reach her feelings. This was good. He could calm her from here and dull her reflexes that would prompt her to draw a gun on him.

_~peace~ ~safety~ ~calm~_

He sent the feelings out, and they were ready accepted by the distraught femme-ling. She wanted to be comforted.

_~peace~ ~safety~ ~calm~_

He intensified the feelings a little more. The sobbing decreased, and she sniffled softly. Good. He took a step towards her.

Auri heard the sound of a foot step and looked up. There was someone big and tall, caring and gentle. She felt a little confused, and she couldn't figure out why. Something wasn't quite…

The tall someone took another step closer.

"Why this sadness?" he asked in a deep monotone voice, and it was oddly comforting.

"M-my friends played an awful trick on me, and I d-don't know why." She said, feeling weepy.

"That is grievous." The deep gentle voice said with a hint of sympathy in its monotones.

"I-I d-don't know w-why th-ey did…" she said again, starting to cry some more. She'd never felt so confused in her life.

"There are many inexplicable things," the voice said, but it was understanding.

"A-a-and m-my other friend beat them up…!" she cried.

"Anyone who would hurt you should be beaten." The voice said with a slightly darkening tone.

"N-not these ones. Not these ones." She sniffled and tried to brush her tears away.

Soundwave took another step towards her. Her little door-wings rose warningly. She wasn't entirely off-guard yet. He crouched down and held out a clean small cloth.

"Here," he said gently,

A blue optic peeked out, and then his little one hesitantly reached her hand out and took the cloth from his fingertips. He watched as she dried her optics. So close, so close. Her little fingers had almost brushed his. He had felt the little warmth from them.

She sniffled like she was done crying and smooth the rumpled cloth. Then she looked at him. He was pleased to see that she gazed at him with no recognition and no great fear. His confusing of her little mind was working. She didn't realize that he'd nearly kidnapped her before. She didn't even seem recognize that he was a Decepticon, one from the other faction. None of her defenses rose as she looked at him.

"Do you want to walk?" he asked, holding out a kind paternal hand.

"I want to cry a little more, thank-you." She said, starting to tear up again.

Soundwave frowned. He didn't want to be rough and just scoop her up. She was already traumatized as it was. If she wouldn't go with him willingly, though…

He could heal the trauma later. He sent a powerful mind~wave through her processor, dulling her cognitive functions, as he moved forward.

"A walk _will_ help." He told her, holding out his hand, "Come."

She eyed his hand and then his optics with vague puzzlement. She paused, but then she slipped off the rock and took Soundwave's hand in her little one. Delight filled the mech's spark. He had her! She was in his hands now, to take home and baby. His little femme-ling…! He'd be a far better guardian than any she'd ever had…!

"Where will we go?" she asked.

"Nowhere." Elita said as she bridged in. She had a wicked-looking gun in her hands, and it was pointed directly at Soundwave. She wouldn't miss at this range. "Let go of her hand." She ordered.

Soundwave ground his jaw gears in aggravation. He'd been so delighted with Auri that he'd dropped his guard. He should have noticed a bridge-opening before someone came through. He was mad.

"Now." Elita said.

Auri looked questioningly up at Soundwave as Elita's gun started to hum.

Soundwave let go. Auri stood by him, looking lost and befuddled. What was she supposed to do? She couldn't figure out.

_Stay with Soundwave, stay away from Elita._ Soundwave broadcasted into her thoughts. She looked up at him and started to reach for his hand again.

"Auri," Elita called, "Little one," her voice was steady, but Soundwave could detect fear coming from her. "It's time to come back now, sweet-spark. Ironhide is worried about you."

Auri looked at Soundwave with sudden clarity. Elita had disrupted Soundwave's hold on her thoughts. The little pink femme gasped and darted away from him, her optics wide. She ran to Elita, and the femme put a possessive, protective hand on her to usher her back through the bridge.

Auri paused and tossed the Decepticon cloth back with a gentle motion. She wasn't throwing it away harshly; she was giving it back because it wasn't hers. Her blue optics met with Soundwave's red visor again, and she didn't move.

_Run away, run away from Elita and your problems_…

Elita gave the femme-ling a gentle nudge. Auri blinked and then darted through the ground-bridge with a shake of her head. Elita studied Soundwave with a hard look on her face for a moment, and then she backed away to follow Auri through the bridge.

The bridge closed, and the femmes were gone. Auri was gone. Soundwave stood there with his optics stuck where the bridge had been. He'd lost again.

Bitterness filled his spark. The chance that there would be a next time was exceptionally small. It was clear that Auri had run off. Nobody would let her run off again. He went over and picked up the small, damp cloth and held it in his hand, smoothing it. So close. He'd gotten to hold her little hand for a few moments, though. Trusting little sparkling hand. He had no one to baby and look after. The cassettes didn't like being treated like sparklings. The little femme would have loved it.

He sighed and turned away, thwarted. He went away to brood.

OoOoOoOoOoO

Auri stopped and stood in the bridging room, trying to get reality to sink in, trying to figure out what had happened. She was starting to feel a little scared. Soundwave... The full shock of it suddenly hit her, and she felt stunned.

Elita came a moment later and closed the bridge.

The femme commander turned to Auri, and Auri met her optics with very wide ones.

"Don't you ever, _ever_ leave base without permission again." Elita said in a harsh sort of tone that Auri had never heard her use before. "Is that clear?"

Auri nodded quickly. She wanted to reply, but the words felt completely jammed in her throat.

"We don't have a heavily protected base because it looks cool, Auri. We fight, and we guard. And it's not for fun, or for kicks, or because it's what we've all always done. It's for a _reason_. A _dark, ugly, brutal reason_." The femme-commander's fists were clenched, and her optics were sparkling differently.

Auri felt frightened and stepped back. "I-I won't ever again," she whimpered fearfully.

"No, you certainly won't." Elita said emphatically. Auri bit her lip and willed herself to not cry in front of Elita, but she could feel her optics starting to tear up anyway.

Elita was on her knees by Auri the next moment, putting her arms around her and holding her tightly. "I d-didn't mean to yell at you or s-scare you, sparklet." She whispered brokenly. "I would be d-devastated if anything happened t-to you. I- I j-just-" she broke off.

Auri realize that Elita was trembling, and she felt a tear fall on her back. Was Elita _crying_? She was, and it was hard for Auri to comprehend. Femme commanders didn't cry… did they? They had to, though, for Elita was both trembling and crying as she held Auri.

Auri held onto Elita and rubbed her back to comfort her. "I didn't mean to give you a scare." She whispered. "I won't ever leave base again without permission. I promise."

It was strange to her, strange to be the one giving comfort. And she realized how horrible Elita would have felt if she'd come a minute later. It made her feel awful. Poor Elita was painfully aware of what could have happened, Auri realized. At this thought, the femme-ling became more conscious of how her actions would have devastated her family and friends if Elita hadn't come. She hugged Elita more tightly. "I'm sorry, dear Elita." She whispered.

Elita had calmed down a little, and she worked to regain her composure. She sniffled and gave Auri a little squeeze before she slowly took her arms from around the femme-ling and simply just held her hands. Auri took a little step back so they could look in each others' faces and gave her a hopeful little smile.

Elita put both of Auri's hands in one hand so she could brush the tears from her optics. Auri watched, feeling torn up by herself. Elita finished with her optics and then went back to holding Auri's hands in both of hers, looking down at them.

Elita opened her mouth but couldn't say anything. She gently rubbed one of her thumbs against Auri's hand. "I need to get to you Ironhide so he can quit worrying." She said after a couple moments. Her tone was more firm now.

"Okay," Auri answered gently. She stepped forward so Elita could hug her again, and then femme commander rose to her feet. Auri held her hand as they left the bridging room and headed up the street. Elita wasn't invincible; Auri hadn't ever thought that before. She'd always thought that Elita was a strong, tough, and immovable femme who happened to be gorgeous, kind, and friendly as well. She'd never seen Elita shaken. It drew her closer to Elita now.

Auri looked up, and Elita glanced down. Elita looked like herself again, mostly. Auri could see a little difference in her optics.

OoOoOoOoO

Ratchet pulled into Med-Bay and snapped orders at his startled assistants. They got up quickly to obey but paused long enough to give each other questioning looks. Neither of them knew what had happened. They glanced at Prowl, who hadn't transformed from his car-mode, and then went to help Ratchet ready his tools.

Prowl parked out of the way and watched. The medic and his assistants had things ready when Ironhide pulled in with poor Sides. Wicked Sides. Poor. Wicked. Poor. Wicked. Poor. Wicked. He couldn't decide. Poor. Wicked.

He transformed and shook his head. Stop. Don't think. He had a helm-ache, and he knew he could easily glitch out if he tried to think too much.

He stood there, his wings almost touching a wall. He saw Ratchet stab a needle into Sides, and it made him feel sick. First Aid and Jolt were moving around doing various things, getting this, fetching that. Ironhide was watching and clenching and unclenching his fists from time to time in an agitated manner.

Prime came in carrying Sunny. Sunny. Sunny. Sunny. Prowl shook his head again. Stop. His head hurt. Don't think. He watched Prime gently settle Sunny onto a berth and rub his shoulder lightly. Ratchet turned to tend Sunny while the assistants continued to look after Sides. Ratchet got a needle ready for Sunny. Needle.

NO!

Stop!

Prowl shook his head. Stop. Logically, there was no reason to panic at the needle. Logic.

He focused on logic as he watched Prime go and talk to Ironhide.

He'd disregarded his logic. He'd given in to emotion. He'd thrashed the twins.

His logical self had occasionally thought that it would feel good to pound the twins once or twice, but he now knew the abject remorse of having given in to raw emotion and hurt his fellows. Logic couldn't even start to justify the action. He should have gone up and arrested them, calmly put them in the brig, and then had them punished according to law. Punished civilly. Painfully but properly.

He'd lost it, though, and pummeled them cruelly. Spilled their life-Energon with his own fists. Ignored their cries like a bully. He hadn't even explained what they had done wrong. He had always despised Cons and the occasional Bot who punished without first explaining. He looked down at the dry life-Energon on his fists and despised himself.

Not only had he done physical damage, but he'd also probably hurt them psychologically, and who could know what damage he'd done to their tenuous and odd relationships with him. He was supposed to be a guide and example, someone they were supposed to trust and respect. A bitter hate filled him, a hate directed at himself. How could he have done that?

He felt sick. Hatefully sick.

His fists throbbed from pounding the twins. His middle ached from the few blows that they'd managed to land. His door-wing connector hurt from when Sides had wrenched it. That was all. And the twins were lying subdued under pain-killers, covered with dings and bruises, life-Energon seeping from under patches.

Prowl clenched his fists more tightly. That made them ache more. He tucked his chin and pressed his wings against the wall. His pain receptors yelped at him, but he didn't say anything. He pressed harder. The nerves cried. That's right, he thought maliciously at himself. Suffer.

He saw Auri come in, Elita holding her hand. The little pink femme let go and ran to Ironhide and hugged him tightly when he picked her up. Auri…

OoOoOoOoOoOoO

Ironhide held Auri tightly. "Don't you ever leave base like that again." He rebuked softly.

"I won't. I promise I won't." Auri told him earnestly. Then she protested softly, "You're holding me too tightly."

Ironhide loosened his grip a little. "I'm sorry." He said, "I… I just kinda panicked at the thought of losing you."

Auri looked unwell.

"Nevermind." Ironhide told her gently. "Nevermind. Elita brought you back safely."

Auri nodded. "C-can I go see the twins?" she asked, afraid to tell him what had happened.

He looked reluctant, but he set her down and said she could. She met Elita's optics and knew that Elita would tell him for her.

Auri went over to stand between Sunny's berth and Sides' berth. She told herself that she'd cried enough that day. A moment later, though, she stuffed her hands in her optics; she couldn't help it. Everything was such a big and terrible mess. She started to cry again.

OoOoOoOoOoOoO

Elita had just a little too much to deal with. She'd told Ironhide about Soundwave, and now she was dealing with his reaction, which wasn't calm. She didn't blame him one bit for being upset, but she knew he needed to be calm about things at this time, for this was a bad time.

Ratchet was a bit mad about the twins, and his assistants were getting nervous. Someone needed to calm him down.

Prime was pacing while talking on a wireless phone in grim, stern tones to somebody of importance. Someone needed to make him quit pacing before it made Ratchet really mad.

Prowl was standing against the wall with his fists clenched and his chin tucked. Elita had no idea what was going on with him, but he needed to be tended to.

And Auri was crying again.

"No," Elita told Ironhide again, "I'm serious. You've got to calm down. There's-"

"There's what?" Ironhide growled at her before beginning to argue with her some more.

::Chromia,:: Elita hailed her long-time friend and backup.

No answer.

::Chromia!::

::AOH! XXXXX! WHAT? XXXX XXXX it!:: Chromia replied profanely, and Elita knew everything wasn't well in Chromia's world.

::Are you sick?:: the femme commander asked Chromia calmly over the comm. as she gave Ironhide a shove and ordered him to listen to her.

::Xxxx it, I'm xxxxxing hung over, that's what. Why the xxxx are you bothering me?:: Chromia cursed at her.

::I _was_ calling you for backup, but-::

::You can go to hell for backup. And don't give me that "I'm disappointed in you" speech because I will sign off the intercom, and Ratchet help you if you come see me about it.::

Elita signed off without replying. "Look, Ironhide,"

"No. Don't you 'look, Ironhide' me. I have-"

::Flareup.:: Elita called the younger femme over the comm..

::Yes, Commander?:: Flareup replied.

::I need you for backup here at Med-Bay.::

There was a pause before Flareup answered with shame. ::I would come, but I'm in the brig.::

::Why?::

::I got over-energized last night.::

Elita paused, glaring at Ironhide. Pulling her rank on him wouldn't do any good. She pulled rank on the Bot at duty at the brig, though, gaining Flareup's release.

::You're getting out because I need you.:: Elita told Flareup. ::Get here fast.::

::Yes, ma'am.:: Flareup replied before signing off.

The pretty orange and red femme hurried to Med-Bay once she was released, breaking the speed limit cautiously.

She transformed and darted into Med-Bay, stopping abruptly once she saw the chaos.

Elita and Ironhide were in heavy argument. Ratchet was clearly mad. The twins were dinged up badly. The assistants were nervous wrecks. Prime was pacing and talking in a dark tone to someone on a wireless phone. Prowl looked like he was the personification of a vicious bad attitude. Auri was crying.

_'Why me?_' Flareup thought then went over to Auri. "Heyyyy…" she said, gently taking her arm and moving her out of Ratchet's fuming way. "What's going on, sparklet?"

"I don't want to talk about it!" Auri cried angrily and slapped Flareup's hand away.

"Here, now, That's not nice." Flareup said gently. "Why is Ironhide so mad?" Ironhide was yelling at Elita in some dialect. Prime started to raise his voice a little on the phone.

"Cause I ran off and bridged off base, that's why!" Auri yelled over Ratchet's yelling.

"You left base?!" Flareup nearly shrieked in shock. She stared at Auri for a second then grabbed her, bending her over, and smacked her little behind.

"Ow!" Auri squealed.

"You don't do that kind of thing, Auri!"

"Eeoww!" Auri howled as Flareup smacked her a second time,

"**_QUIET!_**" Chromia roared, and the whole Med-Bay fell silent except for the clicking and humming of several non-sentient machines. Ironhide looked uneasy. Chromia looked around and decided that she probably didn't need her 17-0-5 Meridian ion blasters. She put the heavy guns away into subspace and put her hands on her hips. "Now. I had a glitching lot of contraband high-grade last night, so I have the worst xxxx hangover that earth had ever known, so everybody keep quiet and nobody mess with me, or they will stinking regret it."

Nobody said anything.

"Good." Chromia said, looking around. "Take your phone call outside, Prime." She said. Prime paused then went to the courtyard so he could keep an optic on things through the window while he talked.

Chromia waited for the door to shut then eyed everybody again. "Let go of Elita's wrist, Hide." She ordered. Ironhide let go of Elita's wrist. "Why the hell was she punching you?"

"It's a long story." Ironhide said,

"You want your aft whupped, mech?"

"No, ma'am." Ironhide said prudently. "We were having disagreement about… uh, I was mad, and she thought I shouldn't be."

"See, that wasn't so hard." Chromia said. Her optics fell on Flareup. "Is there a good reason why you're spanking Auri?"

Flareup looked nervous then nodded cautiously.

"Well don't." Chromia ordered.

Flareup let go of Auri then took the femme-ling in her arms to hold protectively. Chromia looked at them for a moment then moved on.

"Ratchet." She said. "Quit scaring the slag out of your assistants and tend your patients."

Ratchet nodded then motioned Jolt and First Aid to quietly resume work.

"Prowl." Said Chromia.

Prowl eyed her hostility.

"Get your aft over here and tell me what is going on." She ordered.

"I have the right to remain silent." He said sullenly.

Chromia eyed at him. "You want _your_ aft whupped, mech?"

"I do not have to answer."

"I can tell we're both in foul moods here." Chromia said. "But I am willing to hurt you, so you get over here tell me what is going on, or I will drag you into the other room and whup you."

Prowl knew it wasn't an empty threat. His door-wings rose.

"That's right." Chromia told him. "Last chance now."

Prowl moved away from his wall and approached Chromia reluctantly. "I… I discovered that…" he paused as Prime came back into the room. "I discovered that the twins were…" the words jammed in his throat. Chromia tapped a finger. "Th-ey w-ere f-f-framing Agent Sora. M-making it look like she was faking car problems, messing with her phone, tampering with her computer. Everything that went wrong for her was because of them."

Everybody in the room was looking at him, but they took a moment to look at the twins, and the twins looked at each other.

"So what then," Chromia prodded.

"I… then I…" he looked down at his hands. "Then I went to find Auri and tell her and to find the twins and arrest them." He wished that had happened. "I found the three of them together. Auri was crying. And I saw Sideswipe shake her. I… I lost my temper when I saw… that." he shook his head. "I thrashed them until Ironhide came and stopped me. By then Auri had run off. Ratchet and Prime came and took the twins to Med-Bay, and I was ordered to come as well. Ratchet began looking after the twins, Prime got a phone call, and Elita came in with Auri. Once Auri hugged Ironhide, she went over to the twins, and Elita and Ironhide proceeded to get into an argument. Things escalated, and then Flareup came in and proceeded to get mad at Auri. You arrived shortly thereafter."

"And where is Agent Sora?"

Prowl didn't know.

"She ran from us." Ironhide said, motioning to Prime. "She was pretty scared."

Chromia looked over at Prowl as he lowered his head.

Prime's phone rang again. He looked at it and shook his head. "I need to go to my office," He said.

"Zark off to your glitchin' office then!" Chromia snapped at him.

"I was not asking permission," the Prime said, looking sternly and steadily at her. "I was informing you politely that I was leaving."

Chromia eyed him belligerently, but the phone rang persistently, and Prime left after a pause.

"Go find Agent Sora." Chromia told Ironhide. "Flareup, take Auri home and give her something nice for lunch. And don't hit her again, or I will bust your aft."

Ironhide and the two young femmes slipped away.

"Um," said Flareup, looking up to Ironhide as they stopped on the steps outside Med-Bay, "It's not lunchtime."

"And I don't really want to go home right now anyway." Auri added, slipping her hand into Ironhide's.

"You can help me find Agent Sora." Ironhide offered. "Just don't let Chromia find out until much, much later."

"Okay." Flareup agreed. "So, how are we going to find this human? I wouldn't want to be found if I was her."

"Me neither." Auri said, "I mean, nor would I."

"Would you sneak home?" Flareup asked.

"Probably. Wait… no. Someone looking for me would think that and they would look there first, so I wouldn't go there."

"Why don't we just go looking?" Ironhide asked.

"We have to come up with a plan first, mech."' Flareup said in her "oh, puh-leez, duh!" tone.

oOoOoOoOoOo

Chromia watched the door close after Ironhide, and then she looked over and met the femme commander's optics. "Elita," she said, "I know I owe you an apology for the way I addressed you on the intercom, but I'm in no mood to."

"Understood," Elita decided to say.

"Thanks." Chromia eyed Med-Bay like enemy territory. Then she turned away from Elita and went over to the twins. The twins cowered, but they knew that Ratchet and Elita would protect them. "So?" Chromia demanded. "Why did you do what you did?"

"W-we meant for Auri to get a little h-hurt by the liaison so that she wouldn't trust liaisons like that." Sunny managed to say.

Chromia glared at them. "That liaison was supposed to help things between Bots and humans."

"We were afraid Auri would trust the liaison too much, and th-th-then expect the next one to be nice and good, too, and then g-get h-hurt."

Chromia planted a fist on her hip and opened her mouth to give an acid reply, but Elita butted in.

"Where did you get this idea?" The femme-commander asked gently.

"Ourselves." Sides said softly. "It was before Chromia got here, but you'd been on base a week or two." He said, addressing Elita shyly. "We'd handled a couple liaisons before okay. Then one came, and we expected the same, and-" he broke off as hurt filled his optics.

Elita's mouth tightened, and Sides saw her fist clench a little. "Was that Donegal?"

Sunny looked astonished, but he nodded after a second. "How'd you guess?" he asked.

"You weren't the only ones-" Elita broke off as she realized that her tone had suddenly gotten harsh.

"Who is this glitch?" Chromia demanded.

Elita held optics with the twins. "Someone who never should have been allowed on this base." She said then looked over to Chromia. "He said some things that cut us pretty badly."

"Vague." Chromia said impatiently. "What are you not saying, Elita?"

Elita looked away and didn't answer.

"Wellll?!"

Elita turned and eyed her. "I have had enough of your attitude." She said quietly.

Chromia's optics narrowed. "You tell me what the hell this human said that's made everybody so glitching touchy." She ordered, stepping towards the femme-commander.

Elita shook her head. "Chromia, n-"

"You tell me," Chromia ordered,

"Stand down," Prowl told Chromia quietly.

"You stay out of this." Chromia snapped at him then turned on Elita,

"You had better listen to Prowl." Elita said warningly, lowering her chin but not her gaze.

Chromia looked dangerous. "You," she said to Elita, "Are going to tell me,"

Elita shook her head. "I have nothing to tell except that you need to stand down and speak more respectfully."

"Xxxx you!" Chromia started towards her.

"No, you don't!" Prowl ordered, grabbing her arm.

OoOoOoOoOoOoO

"Why should we check the ice cream shop and the candy store?" Ironhide asked as the three bots walked slowly down the street. They were about a block away from Med-Bay now.

"Comfort food." Flareup said simply. "You live with two femmes, you should know what _comfort food_ is."

"It's like comfort drink." Auri explained.

"I know what comfort food is." Ironhide said, mildly annoyed at getting underrated. "I just didn't… nevermind. Shall we split up now that we have a plan?"

"Yeah." Flareup said, "We'll-"

Ironhide cut her off with a hand motion then started quickly back to Med-Bay. "Ratchet commed. Got a fight on his hands."

Auri gasped and dashed ahead.

"Auri-!" Flareup yelled as she ran after her and Ironhide. "Don't-!" But Auri had already darted into Med-Bay.

"Nooo!" Auri howled at the sight she saw. Chromia and Prowl were rolling on Med-Bay floor.

Chromia was trying to pin Prowl down to pound him with her fists. Prowl was trying to kick Chromia off him, but she'd locked her knees around his hips. Prowl fended off a blow with one arm, punching Chromia in the midriff with his other hand. Chromia decided she'd knee-kick him for that. Prowl took it in an uncomfortable place, but he got partially free. He kicked Chromia in the thigh and then twisted up to hit Chromia in the side with his elbow. Chromia grabbed his wing and twisted it hard.

Ironhide grabbed both Chromia's wrists. She screeched angrily.

"That's enough." Ironhide said, dragging her off Prowl to the side. She fought his hold and tried to knee-kick him in a specific place once she gained her footing. Ironhide sidestepped quickly and jerked her off her feet, shoving her face-down over a Med-Bay berth. Then he snapped a handcuff on one of her hands and grabbed the other.

"NO!" she screamed. "NOOO! Not handcuffs! Not h-h-han-n-ndcuffs…!"

Ironhide snapped the other cuff on her free hand. Then he put a hand on her back and kept it there as she screeched and cursed at him.

"You alright, Prowl?" Ironhide called over Chromia's cursing.

Prowl squirmed to make sure he was still in one piece then nodded doubtfully. "Yes." He called back.

Ironhide sighed and looked down at Chromia. He seriously was at his wits end. He looked over at Elita. Elita looked like she contemplating mutiny.

Everybody else looked tense. Then Auri look upset and went over to get some things out of a first aid drawer. She got a couple cleaning cloths and some topical pain reliever and a couple other things she thought she might use. Then she went over to Prowl and set the things down on the berth nearest him.

She poured a little oil onto a cloth then gently pressed it to the corner of his mouth. He winced ever so slightly but kept still and let her clean the life-Energon from his face. She finished with the cloth and put some of the topical pain reliever on her fingertips. Then she started applying it to the bruises on Prowl's face. The worst one was by his optic, and she was pretty sure that it was from Chromia. Her poor commander…

OoOoOoOoOoOoO

Amy wondered if now was a good time to come out of hiding. Auri and Prowl were calm and preoccupied. Ratchet and his two helpers were cleaning and putting away tools. The twins… weren't going to hurt her. Ironhide had moved to talk to Elita, and they were talking in calm tones. Flareup was standing to the side with a troubled look on her face. Chromia was still cursing, but Amy could tell she was starting to flag. Or, at least, Amy supposed Chromia was cursing. Everything had been in Cybertronian. All the yelling and talking and everything had been in the Bots' language, and it had been like watching a foreign movie without subtitles. Tone and expression she understood, but the words she didn't.

Chromia switched over from cursing to crying. She sounded completely miserable and exactly like she thought she was about to be tortured. She was moaning in agony and begging to be released (or something, Amy wasn't sure). Amy couldn't stand it, though. It was making her sick to the stomach to see Chromia lying over the berth and howling in misery. Well, that and the double chocolate sundae.

Amy slipped out from under whatever it was she'd hidden under, startling Flareup.

"WhhhoAEEEE!" Flareup shrieked as she jumped away. "Oh." She said as her optics focused on Amy. She blinked. "How long have you been here?"

Amy swallowed as everybody except Chromia looked at her. "I came in, um, when Auri was going over to the twins. Just before Elita and Ironhide started quarreling."

There was a heavy silence.

"I… got a ride over here in a Jeep." Amy explained uneasily, "I was coming to s-see if anyone had my purse. But… I… I…" she was trembling now.

"We scared you, didn't we?" Elita asked gently as she approached and crouched down.

Amy nodded like a frightened child. "C-can I h-have my purse, an-nd I'll j-just g-go?"

Elita looked over at Ironhide.

"I don't have it…" the mech said with a speculative look. "Prime… might? I'll intercom him." He said then stepped away.

"You don't need to be afraid." Elita told Amy gently. "Prowl figured out that the twins were framing you, and the twins explained it themselves. We don't think you're terrible. We are going to clear you and your name of all the things the twins set up. We will make amends."

Amy felt her throat choke up. Everything had been so terrible, and everyone had been so harsh. Now this regal femme was speaking gently to her and speaking of amends. Could she actually believe the femme?

She bit her lip uncertainly.

"I understand if you're unwilling to accept my words." Elita said softly, "But you will see our actions. I promise."

* * *

Disclaimer: The word "zark," which Chromia says at Prime, is not mine. It is an expletive coined by Douglas Adams and used in his book _Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy_. And she probably shouldn't have said it.


	78. Chapter 78

I'm all done with my final exams! YAY! Here's another chapter. Also, I've updated _A Sticky Situation_ with another chapter of Chromia's revenge on the twins.

* * *

Chapter 78

"_I understand if you're unwilling to accept my words. But you will see our actions. I promise._" Elita's words seemed to echo a bit in Amy's mind as the woman hesitated. She looked down then managed to give the femme a bit of a smile when she looked up again. It wasn't convincing, though, and she couldn't get herself to speak. She'd about had it with the Autobots.

Elita understood the look and regret crossed her face. "I _am_ sorry." She said with a sense of hopelessness. There wasn't anything else she could do about the situation at the moment, and she knew it. Ironhide was coming over, though, so maybe that would help things.

"Prime is coming back." The mech said when he was near, "He picked up the purse and has it."

"Thank-you for finding out for us." Elita said.

"You are welcome." He replied. He looked to Amy. "Is there anything else I can do for you?"

Amy shook her head. "No, thank-you." She said.

"Alright. Let me know if you think of something." Ironhide told her. "I'm sorry we didn't realize what the twins were up to. They've never, never done anything like this."

Amy let him have the silent treatment.

Elita rose, and Ironhide watched as she straightened. She met his optics. They both wondered what they should do next and hoped that the other knew what to do. Elita should take care of things; things were touchy, needed her light hands. Ironhide should take care of things; things were messy, needed his firmness. Elita lowered her head a little to Ironhide, yielding things to him. He could delegate if he liked.

Ironhide shifted a foot. "Do you want to wait here?" he asked Sora.

She eyed him. "My house is locked. Where else would I wait?"

Ironhide's optics narrowed. She didn't need to use that sort of tone with him; he hadn't done anything to her. "That was a yes-or-no question, ma'am." He said gently.

"Yes."

Ironhide looked over at Elita. ::She's mad at the whole lot of us, I think.:: he noted over the intercom.

::I hardly blame her.:: the femme commander replied regretfully.

::Well, neither do I. But how are we going to patch things if she won't let us?::

:: Kindness. Patience. Persistence… Hopefully.::

::Hopefully.:: Ironhide left it at that. He was doubtful. He looked over at Auri. She'd resumed her care of Prowl, tending his hands now. Prowl was as still as a statue, but Ironhide knew him well enough to guess that the mech was wincing within. Elita looked over to see what had his attention and smiled ever so slightly at Auri's sweetness. She felt bad for Prowl, though. And she felt bad for Flareup. A quick glance showed her that Flareup was slouching against a wall and looking pensively at the floor. She was disappointed with the younger femme for getting over-energized last night; Elita knew she was going to have to speak sternly to Flareup about it, and that was going to make Flareup miserable. She sighed. She knew Flareup never would have gotten over-energized if Chromia hadn't.

Elita glanced over at Chromia. The blue femme was crying, still, as she lay over the berth, and sometimes she coughed. So much crying was overheating her system, making her "breathe" heavily as her cooling system worked overtime to cool her. The excess deposits from the contraband high-grade had caused congestion in her system as well, make things worse. The blue femme choked and broke off into a fit of coughing.

Flareup looked up, concern on her face, and gave Ironhide a questioning look as he took a step in Chromia's direction. Ironhide hesitated, glancing at Elita. 'Faking?' Elita mouthed the question.

Ironhide looked sideways. He wasn't sure. He really wasn't sure. More than once he'd fallen for Chromia's tricks, and it had gone badly for him. Chromia overcame her coughing and began to whine miserably as she cried. It made Ironhide's whole being ache with pain. It had been terribly hard to endure her crying; he hated standing by while she suffered. Now the whining was too much.

"Careful." Elita warned quietly as he moved towards his mate.

He went over and gently got her off the berth, setting her on her feet. She sobbed and whined, begging him brokenly to remove the cuffs.

"Shhh," he hushed gently, cradling her against himself tenderly but refusing to remove the cuffs.

"Pleas-se…" she whimpered, and his will broke. He slipped the cuffs off, and she hugged herself as she hid her face against his shoulder. She sniffled and quieted down a little. Ironhide kissed her head softly and murmured something that only she caught. Elita turned back to the human then, content that Chromia wasn't going to turn on Ironhide and not wanting to intrude on the pair. Amy was watching the two, though, and Elita saw a look of pain on her face.

"Are you… alright?" Elita asked, risking a retort.

Amy nodded then looked up to her. "Is _she_?"

"She will be alright." Elita said softly, encouraged by the concern in Amy's tone. "She's upset… well, that is an understatement. She'll be fine eventually, though."

Prime came in then, sparing Elita from Amy's next question. "I apologize for the delay." He said, giving Elita a strained look. People and Bots were getting stirred up about what little they'd seen or heard. "Agent Sora," he said, dropping down to one knee to return her purse. She took it and made sure that her phone was in it. It was.

"Sora," he said.

She met his optics in conflict. Part of her wanted to cry and go home. Another part wanted to yell at him and demand reparations. His face was close, though, and she saw his regret for the present problems, and she saw that the sadness that countless eons of harsh war had etched into his expression. Her anger melted. "Yes, Prime?" she said respectfully if a little late.

"None of us would have allowed this to happen if we had had even an inkling of what was going on." He said seriously, "I am deeply sorry that we have caused you so much trouble and hardship. We will, I will, do everything that can be done to straighten things out. This I promise."

Amy looked down. Another promise. Elita had promised earlier, and she had been doubtful. She had a different mindset now, though. She met his optics again, "Thank-you." She said softly.

Primed lowered his head in a nod. "What do you wish to do right now?" he asked. "I believe my Bots need an hour or two to settle down before we can begin to work on this mess."

"Could I stay here?" Amy asked. If she went back to her condo, she would fret; she knew she would. Here she could see what was going on with those who were the most likely to affect her.

Prime looked over to Ratchet, and the medic shrugged a shoulder reluctantly. "You may." Prime said, turning back to her.

"I will stay here, then."

Prime nodded his assent then rose to look around. Ironhide was comforting Chromia. Auri was carefully tending a small gash on Prowl's upper arm. Prowl was probably wishing himself dead. Flareup was looking down at the floor, slouching.

"Flareup," he called.

She looked up guiltily. "Yes, sir?"

"Watch over Agent Sora for the time being."

Auri looked from Prowl's shoulder, a surprised and troubled look on her face. Why did Prime say that?

Flareup opened her mouth to protest then snapped it shut. She stabbed Auri with a quick sideways look. "Sir, the agent is Auri's responsibility."

Prime looked sternly at her. "I will take no backtalk from you." He said in a tone that brooked no argument.

Flareup bit her lip and managed to not look too mad. "Yes, sir." She said.

Auri looked worried, anxious. "A-are you taking my liaison from me?" she asked, looking like she might cry if the answer was 'yes.'

"No, Aurion, I am not." Prime told her sternly, "Prowl and the twins just need you at present, and I do not wish Agent Sora to be left without an Autobot aide."

"Understood." She answered softly, feeling a little hurt by his tone and the usage of her longer name. She hadn't done anything to deserve that, had she?

Prime looked back in Flareup's direction, his optics narrowing. "Flareup," he said sternly, "When I give orders, I mean for them to be followed."

Flareup looked resentful and stiffened.

"You attend Agent Sora, now." He said, and his tone was slightly blood chilling.

Flareup ducked her head. "Yes, sir." She murmured and hurried over to Amy, not daring to look at Elita as she went past the femme commander.

Flareup sat down beside the liaison, "Y-you said you wanted to stay here?" she asked.

"Yes," Amy said gently.

"Okay." She said, sounding miserably relieved, and put her head down on her drawn up knees with a gusty sigh.

Amy felt badly for the femme, although she wasn't entirely sure why. Flareup certainly deserved to get called down by Prime, and she had spanked Auri for no apparent reason after shrieking at her in Cybertronian.

Amy watched as Prime and Elita slipped to a corner of the room to talk quietly with each other. No doubt they had a great deal to discuss… They were a nice pair, though, Amy thought. Both leaders, both strong. She looked over to Ironhide and Chromia. Those two were fighters. Chromia didn't look it at the present, but Amy was pretty sure the femme would be back in the ring before too long. Amy sighed; Ironhide's family would be an interesting study if Chromia and Flareup would get over disliking her for no apparent reason and if Auri would be friends. Auri…

"Could I ask you something?" Amy asked tentatively.

Flareup shifted so she could look at Amy. "Sure." She said in a subdued tone.

"Why did you hit Auri?" she tried to ask it with a perplexed tone rather than a condemning one, and she kept her voice down.

"She went off base." Flareup said. "It's dangerous out there for her. She nearly got kidnapped the first time she left base. I just freaked out when I found out that she did it a second time."

"Oh… I see now." Amy said. She waited a couple moments then asked another question. "What did Chromia make Prowl tell everybody?"

Sigh. "She made him explain what was going on. The twins were framing you, did you know?"

"They had just confessed to it when Prowl came up and began pounding them." Amy said.

"Oh… Well… he figured out what they were doing and was coming to arrest them and tell Auri. He just lost it for some reason I don't know and thrashed 'em instead."

"One of them shook Auri," Amy said,

"That might do it." Flareup said. "He's protective of her." She added quietly as she picked her head up to check on things. Ironhide was still holding his poor Chromia. Elita and Prime had a data-pad out now and were looking at it with serious faces. Ratchet was sitting on a counter looking grimly at a data-pad of his own. Auri had finished Prowl's upper arm and was looking speculative as she slowly refolded the cloth. Prowl was expressionless and as still as a statue. Auri moved behind him, and his wings tensed a little more.

"You need Ratchet to take care of your wings." Auri told Prowl softly. She lifted up her hand but didn't touch him. Prowl nodded ever so slightly. "Ratchet," Auri called softly.

The medic looked up, and she motioned him over.

Amy saw Prowl wince the first time the medic touched his door-wing connectors, but after that he remained perfectly still.

Once Ratchet finished with the door-wing connectors, he quickly slipped a sedative needle from sub-space. Auri's optics widened suddenly at the sight of it, but Ratchet stabbed it into Prowl's neck before the unfortunate mech realized what was happening.

"D-" Prowl's optics widened then fell shut, "Mmm…" Ratchet supported him as he lost consciousness.

Auri gave the medic a look of consternation. "What _did_ you do that for?" She cried in horror.

"Think about it, femme-ling. It's easier this way."

"Short-term!" She exclaimed. "Now he'll feel betrayed when he wakes, and he's never gonna trust you behind him again!"

"Let's not dramatize this." Ratchet said, lugging the door-winged mech towards a berth. "We've have more than enough drama for one day."

"It was mean of you-!" She argued, her door-wings flicking up angrily.

"Aurion Blaze." Prime said sharply from his conference corner, "Enough."

"Yes, sir." She said softly, subdued instantly. She lowered her wings. Everything was unfair right now. Everything.

"Sunnnnneeeee…" Sides moaned, "I wannnnt Sunnnny…!"

"_Sunny_ is on the berth next to yours." Ratchet informed him.

"Want Sunny-!" Sides howled into his pillow.

"Oh," Ratchet said, muttering a few things that little femmes should not hear. He heaved Prowl onto the nearest berth then went over to the twins. "Sideswipe, I told you, Sunny is on the next berth over."

Sides, with his face stuffed in his pillow, was rather incoherent, but it was clear that he was not happy. Ratchet looked bothered.

Ironhide murmured softly to Chromia then left her and came over to Ratchet. "Need a hand?" He asked. Ratchet gave him a look.

Ironhide picked up Sunny and put him on the large berth that Ratchet had dumped Prowl on.

"That…"

"I'm not done yet." Ironhide told the medic. He picked up Sides and put him next to Sunny.

"Sunny… twin… _nlll riif drrrr_…" Sides clicked contentedly and snuggled against his brother.

Ratchet eyed Ironhide. "Ah… Sides wasn't awake." He realized. "He needed the physical touch."

Ironhide nodded.

Ratchet looked content then stopped. "You get to handle Prowl when he wakes up." He said, pointing to the berth.

"I will." Ironhide replied he went back to Chromia.

"Bots are like puppies." Flareup whispered to Amy, "Or kittens. You can pile them up together cuddly and it's not sexual."

Amy found a bit of a smile. "I like that."

"Yay…" Said Flareup tiredly. She sighed and put her head back down.

"Do you have a headache?" Amy asked softly.

"I… I have a hangover." Flareup replied dully.

Amy blinked. "A hangover?"

"Yes." Flareup said. Then she sighed, knowing she'd have to explain. "You humans aren't the only ones who have strong drink. We have high-grade. Sometimes we're stupid and get over-energized."

"Oh…"

"Yeah. And Chromia and I hit the contraband pretty hard last night, so… there."

"Is that why she was acting so ferocious earlier?"

"Mostly." Flareup said. "She tends to be a little ferocious anyway, but a bad hangover will make her at least three or four times as nasty."

"Got it."

"Uh-huh. You got a lot of trash on us." Flareup muttered dismally.

"I- I didn't mean it that way…!" Amy was appalled that the femme thought she wanted "dirt" on them.

Flareup eyed her. There were serious trust issues. She opened her mouth to tell the agent something, but suddenly Auri was there. She'd come over because she felt bad for her poor sister, because she'd needed to distract herself from the poor twins' conditions lest she start crying over them, and because her young conscience had been troubling her.

"I'm sorry my twins tricked you, Agent Sora." She said earnestly as she sat down before Amy, "And I'm sorry that I reacted in a negative way. Please forgive me… I… I'll try ever so hard to be nice and make up for it."

Amy cocked her head as she looked up at the young Bot. Did Auri think it was that simple? It was that simple for four-year-olds… they said sorry and promised to be good, and then everything would be fine until the next "crisis." Come to think it, four-years-olds tended to have fewer problems with relationships than "big people" did. But…

"Please…?" Auri's tone had a little quiver in it now, and she was starting to look troubled.

They weren't four-year-olds.

"I appreciated it that you're apologetic, Auri," Sora said gently with a firm under undertone, "But there's a bigger picture to look at."

Auri looked around, puzzled.

"A figurative picture."

"Oh…" Auri said. She paused. "Are… are you not going to forgive me?" she asked in a sad little voice.

"Auri, do you not understand what has been happening?" she asked patiently, "My career is teetering on ruin here. We can't hug and make up and everything will be 'oaky-dokey.'"

"I know that." Auri said, looking frustrated. "How can I help you fix things, though, if you won't forgive and trust me?" she argued.

Amy paused. Auri was thinking that forgiveness came first and then repair came. Amy had been wanting repairs before she would forgive. That seemed ungracious, suddenly, as she pondered it. That was how most people worked, but this little alien had been taught differently.

Amy looked at Auri again with new eyes. "I forgive you." She said gently after a moment. "And I hope we'll be able to 'fix things.'"

Auri nodded. "Thank-you. I believe we will be able to."

"Auri-?" one of the twins called anxiously. Auri got up and went over to the berth where her three friends were.

"What, you meanie?" she asked Sunny.

Sunny put his head down. "I was just afraid that you had run off." He said.

"I did run off…" she said softly, "But I'm back."

Sides stirred and looked over at her. "You okay?" he asked.

She crossed her arms. "_I_ am fine. My agent is not, however. She is very upset about what you did to her, and you've nearly ruined her carrier!"

"Career..." Sides corrected softly. Prowl shifted.

Sunny and Sides looked over in surprise. "Someone has a warped sense of humor." Sunny said darkly when he saw that he was next to Prowl.

"You nearly ruined her career." Auri said, bringing their attentions back to her.

The twins looked at each other, making optic contact, before looking back to Auri. "Bring her over?" Sides asked.

Auri nodded. She went back to Amy. "The twins want to speak with you." She said.

"Be nice," Flareup told Amy as the woman moved to go with Auri, but she got no reply.

Once they were to the berth where the twins and Prowl were, Auri carefully lifted Amy onto the berth. Amy clung to her fingers, though, suddenly terrified.

"We're not going to hurt you…" Sides said sadly.

"Let go." Auri said, disliking not having her hands free. It made her stressed out for some reason. "Let go, and I'll climb up and sit on the berth close to you." She bargained.

Amy made herself let go, chiding herself for reacting like a clingy child. Auri climbed up quickly and sat in the midst of her friends. She put the backs of her fingers against Amy's back to let her know that she wasn't going anywhere.

"We apologize," Sunny said softly. "We were going to before, but Prowl interrupted us. We can explain everything if you want us to, and…" he looked to Sides.

"And we're going to apologize publically and explain what we did." Sides said, his cheeks heating at the thought of being humiliated in front of his peers and allies. "That should clear you." He added as he hung his head.

Amy found herself momentarily stunned. The complete change in their behaviors and attitudes was a little overwhelming. She wasn't sure how she felt about all this, but she knew that she should be gracious.

"I accept your apologies," she said gently, "And I thank-you for… offering to make amends."

"We will make them." Sunny said, wincing. Sides nodded. "We'll explain."

"We've got a whole lot of explaining…" Sides mourned, putting his head on his brother. Sunny put his arms around his brother to comfort him. Sides jerked his head up suddenly, his optics flashing angrily.

Amy backed against Auri quickly, frightened by this swift change.

Sides cooled down after a moment of silence. His brother looked watchful. Sides looked sideways then pointed at Amy. "IF you _ever_ say dirty things about us twins for being close to each other, or _anything_ dirty about the femmes here, we will personally see to it that you never get a word off this base."

Amy swallowed at this warning. What did sort of person did they think she was?!

"I... I would never do that sort of thing." She said softly. "I would never slander anybody." She kept steady under searching optics. "I promise." She added.

Sides eased his look. "Good." He said with a bit of a nod.

Auri put a slightly protective hand on Amy. "Is that what… that other liaison did?" the femme-ling asked

Sides nodded, starting to look angry again.

"I'm not that other liaison." Amy said gently but firmly. "I'm looking for the best in you guys. I want to help things. I was sent to build relations and develop a better understanding… that's my mission."

Sunny sighed. "We sure messed up."

"Well, humans _never_ mess up." Amy told him. It made him snicker. Sides chuckled, and Auri smiled. "That's better." Amy said, feeling better than she had for a while.

Sides nodded. "Thanks for pointing out the obvious." He said softly, teasing gently.

"Sh-!" Sunny hushed, freezing as Prowl shifted. Sides didn't move either. Amy was impressed at how still the twins could be.

Prowl shifted and sat up. Because of the direction he had been lying and now was sitting, he never saw the twins or Auri or the woman with them. He shifted his wings and glanced at Ironhide and Chromia. He gave Ratchet a deathlook and then moved to get off the berth.

"Stay put." Ironhide told him.

"Ironhide," Prowl said with tolerant haughtiness,

"I said stay put." Ironhide told him again.

"Ironhide," Prowl said again patronizingly, "I have much work to. I am in working condition, and as I am not a legal inmate of this Med-Bay, there is no reason for me stay." He let himself off the berth with that and started towards the door.

Ironhide went over quickly and intercepted him. Prowl halted, flattening his wings ever so slightly in a threatening way then flicking them up in a defiant gesture. Ironhide grabbed his arm and dragged him back to the berth.

"How about," Ironhide said, putting him face down on the berth with his legs hanging off, "Because," He brought the flat of his hand hard across Prowl's behind, delivering a ringing, smarting swat. Prowl kicked in surprise and got another swat. "I said so." Ironhide said. He gave Prowl a third sharp swat for good measure and then put him fully onto the berth.

The twins eyed Ironhide with apprehension, but the big mech just went back to his femme. Auri gave his back a reproachful look. Amy Sora simply remained staring in disbelief at Prowl's backside. Ironhide had actually smacked the Prime's Second-in-Command like he was a bad child? It was…

"What?" Sides hissed at her. She blinked and looked away from Prowl, and then she shook her head at Sides. It would be bad form to discuss her amazement in Prowl's bruised presence.

"Prowl…" Sunny said reluctantly, his face twisted in a grimace. "You're on my foot, and it hurts."

Prowl rolled over a little, moving off Sunny's foot.

"Thanks…" Sunny murmured uncomfortably. Prowl didn't respond.

A less than comfortable silence dropped over the berth, completely blanketing the little company. The twins had too much to speak, and Prowl was too furious to even say a word. Amy was afraid she'd only worsen things if she spoke. Auri… Auri was young enough to be daring.

"Hey…" Auri said, "We just need Bee here, and then it will be just like that time we got wrecked on the mountain."

Nobody responded. She lowered her wings.

"I guess that wasn't a fitting remark for the present circumstances…" she murmured apologetically.

"No…" Sides said quietly, "It wasn't really."

Auri sighed and looked down at her human. "I was driving too fast on a mountain one time," she explained quietly, "I went off the edge and got pretty hurt. And then Cons came and attacked, and Bee and the twins got hurt fighting them. We all ended up in Med-Bay, and Prowl came to visit." She paused, remembering. "We had a good time together." She added softly.

"Movie marathon." Sides said after a couple moments. He was still hurting, but a little reminiscent half-smirk almost touched his face. "That was fun."

"Ratchet and Prowl fighting while setting up the sound system." Sunny added with a bitter-sweet half-smile.

"Oh… yeah…." Auri remembered, "Prowl negotiated with Ratchet so we could watch movies, and they were mad at each other for it." She recalled and couldn't help but smile a little.

"And Ratchet let us play sparkling games to keep us occupied once he got sick of our movies and TV shows." Sunny added.

Sides snickered softly, "The things we stooped to when boredom assailed us was ridiculous, but I enjoyed it."

"I liked when I was asleep and the two of you and Prowl and Bee couldn't figure out how to wake me up, and it took Ironhide to do it." Auri said.

"None of us were going to tickle you while you were asleep." Sunny protested gently. "It would have been slightly indecent."

"Yeah." Sides agreed, "Besides, Prowl did try shaking you and almost woke you." He said. Then he bit down his lip as he realized what he'd said. He'd shaken Auri just moments before Prowl had plowed into him and begun beating him. The uncomfortable silence came back and settled over them.

OoOoOoOoO

Prowl was furious, as mentioned earlier, but he was trying to force himself to deal with it. _Deal with it_. He told himself. _One does not cross Ironhide without negative consequences_. He tended to stay away from using "you" because it was too personal. "You do not cross Ironhide without negative consequences" was just too uncomfortable. He got that, though. _You, _Prowl_, do not cross Ironhide without negative consequences_. _It was perfectly logical that you got swatted. Accept what is logical._ He told himself it was to be expected and not to get mad about it but to accept it. But…

He couldn't. Those swats had stung, and they had stung in front of Auri, of all bots. And liaison; who knew what the human was thinking of him _now_. The twins, blast. Prime,

Oh, Prime.

_And_ Elita of all bots. Flareup wasn't the only one who looked on Elita with respectful awe.

Oh, Flareup had seen it, too, had seen him get smacked like a bratty sparkling who couldn't be dealt with in any other way.

He wished the stinging would go away, and he wished everybody would go away. It was a horrible day. What was the debacle count up to now? One, losing his temper; two grabbing Chromia's arm; three, disobeying Ironhide. Three? Was that _all_? It was the degree of the failures, he supposed, rather than the number. It was too many, anyway. Three was too many. One would have been too many. He had to be perfect.

_You can't ever be completely perfect, Prowl_. Ironhide had told him that gently once. He'd been a small mech-ling then, crumbled up on the couch crying in disappointment because he'd come in second in his class instead of first. Looking back on that, Prowl smiled bitterly as he thought of how ridiculous those tears had been. Honestly, he'd outdone all the other little bots in his class except one, and he'd cried about it? Perspective. Perspective was a good thing to have. What was he doing now? Well, he wasn't physically crying. He was mad, angry, upset… He wanted to be a little sparkling and pitch a tantrum and then cry for half an hour.

He clenched his fists angrily. _Get up_, he told himself. _Get out of it_. _Don't dwell there._

He ground his jaws and made himself pull his legs under himself. He pressed his hands against the berth and made himself sit up.

He kept his optics on the berth. He knew Auri had to be looking at him with a sad, sympathetic, and concerned look on her endearing little face. The thought made him furious. She'd trusted him, and now what had he done but hurt her twins. The twins were probably looking at him, too, watching to see what he would do next. He wanted the day to be over. He wanted to sun to go down and everybody to go home. Then he could go back to his quarters and work until he dropped into recharge where nothing hurt. He wanted to slam his fists into something solid, not stopping until he had to because they hurt too much. He just…

He rolled off the berth and hit the floor in car-mode, gunning his motor the second before his wheels made contact. His tires squealed and left marks on Ratchet's pristine floor as he shot towards the broad double doors. Ratchet yelled, but Prowl didn't stop. He slammed into the center of the doors, making them swing open, and then he was gone from Med-Bay.

Ironhide dashed towards the doors; he knew he couldn't let Prowl go off by himself in such a mood. Before he reached the doors, though, there was a terrible screech and squeal outdoors, followed by the sound of metal smashing into metal. Ironhide went through the doors.

Auri whimpered. Ratchet looked terribly apprehensive but knew Ironhide would call him if he was needed. Prime and Elita looked at each other, stress in their expressions.

The doors swung open again in a couple moments, and Ironhide shoved Prowl through them, a look of anguish on his face. Prowl was clutching his left side high up on his torso.

"YOU DON'T GLITCHIN' GO SIDESWIPE A **_TANK_**!" Ironhide yelled him in dismay.

"I TH' H-L DIDN'T MEAN TAH GO GLITCHIN' SAHDSWIPE A FRA-GLITCHETY TANK!" Prowl roared back in fury. He stamped his foot at Ironhide then made a gesture at him. It wasn't a human gesture, so Amy didn't know exactly what it meant, but she could guess.

Ironhide stared at him for a moment. Then he grasped the door-winger firmly by the upper-arm and took him out of the room. A couple moments later, a door closed quietly down the hallway.

Auri looked upset. "Why did he do that?" she wailed, starting to cry.

Sunny grimaced in pain as he reached over and pulled her onto his lap. "It'll be okay, sweet-spark." He told her uncertainly, "Ironhide knows what is best…"

Amy wished that she'd opted to go to her housing unit instead of staying. She didn't want to bother Flareup, though. The femme looked pretty dejected. Amy looked around Sides to see what Prime and Elita were doing. She saw Prime nod his head and Elita put away the data-pad. Prime's hand touched Elita's back briefly as she moved away from him and towards the berth where Auri and the twins were.

Elita came over and paused at the berth. "I am headed out," she said to Amy, "Would you like a ride back to your quarters?"

"No…" Auri whimpered. Elita looked at her, surprised. "Please don' take her away from me…"

"I'll stay." Amy said, "Thank-you for offering, though." She added. Elita nodded then left, and Amy wondered at herself then. Hadn't she _just_ been wanting to leave? Auri's beseeching tone had swayed her, though. She moved closer to the twins and Auri, and Sides gently picked her up and set her on his leg. It surprised her, and it scared her a little, but she pushed the fear aside when she looked up and saw how gentle Sides' optics were.

Flareup sniffled and came over. She climbed up and beside Sides. She was miserable and needed some comfort. He put an arm around her. "This is the worst day ever." She said with another sniffle.

"Don't cry on me," Sides moaned instinctively.

"I'll cry if I want." She retorted, punching him without vigor. It didn't hurt him, though, and she calmed down.

"I want Prowl back." Auri whimpered.

"Ironhide'll bring him back when he's done with him, Auri." Flareup said.

"When…?"

"Umm… I don't know." She said.

OoOoOoOoOoOoO

Once the door was closed behind him, Ironhide turned and stared at Prowl some more. Prowl flicked his wings with a defiant look, challenging Ironhide to make a move.

Ironhide stepped towards him slowly. "Prowl…" he said, thinking over a dozen things that he might say.

Prowl fanned his wings down and hissed at Ironhide.

Ironhide cocked his head. "You wanna fight?" he asked.

Prowl clenched his fists. All the pain and rage within wanted a fight, wanted so badly pound and smash until there was weariness and peace. There wasn't any justifiable opponent, though; he was the one who brought the failure on himself. He shook his head bitterly.

"No." he said sullenly.

Ironhide lifted his chin. "You've got to get over this somehow. You wanna talk it out?"

Prowl shook his head.

"Take a long drive?"

"No."

"A walk?"

"No!"

"Prowl…"

"NO!" Prowl roared, "NO! NO! NO! I-" he broke off. His wings trembled. A small sob broke from his throat as his countenance changed. "I want this day to over, Ironhide…" he said in a soft, miserable little tone. "I… just…" he didn't finish his sentence but broke off to cry.

Ironhide came over quietly and put an arm around his Prowl, letting the younger mech cry without reproaching him. Humans were funny about crying and thought only girls were allowed to cry, but Transformers were different. Tears were acceptable from both makes.

Ironhide stroked Prowl's back comfortingly as he held him and reflected back to when Prowl had been little, remembering how seriously Prowl had taken everything even then. Poor thing…

After a little bit, Prowl sniffed a final sounding sniff and sighed.

Ironhide let go as Prowl shifted away from him and looked up at him.

"Better?" Ironhide asked gently.

Prowl nodded.

"You sure you're not just saying that?" Ironhide had to make certain.

Prowl paused.

Ironhide cocked his head. "_All_ better?" he asked knowingly.

Prowl shook his head.

"Wanna talk now?"

"Yes." Prowl said with a nod. He sat on a berth and told Ironhide how angry was with himself and how much he regretted… everything, how mad it made him that he'd slipped up, and how bitter it made him feel. So much was wrong and messed up, and he couldn't see how he could patch it all up. Ironhide remained silent and listened to all that he said. After a while, Prowl found that he'd run out of things to say, and he fell silent.

He looked over the edge of the berth and down at his scuffed up pedal armoring. "I felt like I could use a good kick, but I believe I am over that now." He said.

Ironhide couldn't help but smile at that. "Well," he said, "I'm glad."

Prowl nodded. He was too. He was over the horrible mood and just felt tired now.

"Prowl,"

"Yes, sir?"

"Take one hour at a time, and don't think you're alone. We are all in this debacle together, all responsible, so we're all going to help you. Got it?"

"Yes, sir." Prowl said with a half-smile.

Ironhide reached over and hugged him. "Good." He said. "Now. You ready to go back? I'm sure more than one being out there is upset and convinced that you're getting the worst aft-licking of your life."

"It is not as if I do not deserve it." Prowl said, slipping off the berth.

Ironhide gave his shoulder an affectionate rub, and they headed back to the main room. Flareup saw them first, and she reached over and gave Auri's arm a little nudge. Auri looked up and saw Prowl in the doorway with Ironhide's hand gently resting on his shoulder.

"Proww-ol…" Auri murmured unhappily.

Prowl looked up at Ironhide then left him, going over to the berth. He climbed up onto the now-crowed berth, squeezing in beside Sunny, and put a hand on Auri's forearm.

"It is alright." He told her, giving her arm a gentle little rub with his thumb.

"Aren't you're hurted, though?" She said reproachfully. Her butchered grammar made Prowl wince, but he knew she didn't mean it mess it up. She messed up words when she regressed.

"Ironhide did not hurt me." Prowl told her gently but firmly, "He made me talk about what was making me so upset. It is out of my system now."

"Really, truly?" Auri asked, looking up at him.

He nodded.

"Okay." She said with a content sigh. She rested her head against Sunny's battered chest. "Imma resharge now…" she murmured as her optics fell closed.

"Recharge well," Prowl said gently. Then his optics fell on Agent Sora. A twisted little half-smile touched his lips. "Well, Agent, you've seen us at our worst, so take heart; it can only get better from here."

"I'm ready for that." Amy said, giving him a gentle look.

"Good…" he trailed off as his head lowered onto Sunny's shoulder.

Sunny eyed him doubtfully. Sides leaned over and peered at his optics. "He's out." Sides said.

"Nnnuh…" Prowl attempted to protest. He wasn't quite out.

"Well, don't fall into recharge on-" Sunny stopped as Prowl slumped entirely against him. "me." Sunny finished uselessly.

"_Now_ he's out." Sides said drily.

Sunny groaned. "Doesn't he know how heavy he is?"

"You're squished with door-wingers." Sides commented unhelpfully.

Sunny grimaced.

"I'll take Auri." Sides said. He gently put Amy on the berth and then pulled the sleeping femme-ling over from Sunny's lap. "You want back up?" he asked Amy.

"Is it safe?"

He nodded, so Amy nodded, and he put her carefully on Auri's shoulder.

Sunny shifted a little, and Prowl slipped so that he was sprawled on Sunny's legs. "Ou…ch." Sunny gave the unconscious door-winger an aggrieved look.

Side half-chuckled.

Sunny shifted his legs a little and tugged Prowl back against his shoulder with a grunt. Prowl shifted, practically cuddling against the twin like a sparkling.

"I rather like him when he's asleep." Sides commented, reaching over and touching the tip of one of Prowl's wings. Prowl's wing flicked lazily, but otherwise he didn't respond. Sides smiled.

Sunny eyed the door-winger. "Well, I just hope he wakes up pleasant."

"He might." Sides said, deciding to be optimistic. It was easy to be optimistic when his brother was between him and Prowl. Besides, Prowl didn't look half so scary when he was snugly.


	79. Chapter 79, Apologies and Stories

Hi! Ta-DA! My first chapter update of 2013!

And it's super long and had lots of fluffy moments, so enjoy! ;)

* * *

Chapter 79

**Apologies and Stories **

Auri stirred a little as she began to wake from her recharge and started to become aware of her surroundings. She could tell that she was in Med-Bay from the various sets of sounds, and she knew she was sleeping on someone's lap from the warmth she felt against her and the position she was in. Ironhide wasn't too far away, but Chromia had left; her bonds with them told her that. Prime was talking to somebody quietly, probably a human. He spoke a little differently when he spoke to humans; it was only a slight difference, and people couldn't tell, but bots could.

Auri shifted and blinked her optics open to find herself on Sides' lap with Sunny right next to him and Prowl snuggled against Sunny. Her wings twitched in her surprise at the sight of Prowl, but she couldn't help but smile at how peaceful he looked. Sunny was dosing, but Sides was awake and smiled at her.

"It's about time you woke up." He softly in a slightly teasing tone. This woke Sunny up.

"Little door-wingers get overwhelmed more easily than other bots do and need extra rest after particularly stressful or traumatic events." Auri informed him in a drowsy Ratchet tone.

"What about not-so-little door-wingers." Sunny muttered, motioning to Prowl on his shoulder.

Auri eyed Prowl. "He's had enough stress in the past six hours to knock out _both_ of you twins, so keep quiet."

"I doubt that's medically accurate." Sunny said to Sides with a chuckle.

"Yeah."

"Oh, hush." Auri told them. "Where's my liaison?"

"Agent Sora is over there talking with Prime." Sides said, motioning with his hand.

Auri looked over and saw that it was so. Her liaison was sitting on a box on Ratchet's counter with a nice sandwich in her hands, and she was talking to Prime, who was sitting on a stool. Ratchet was nowhere to be seen, but Ironhide was there. He sitting on a berth cross-legged, and Flareup was sitting next to him with her feet hanging off the edge. She swung them a little as she talked.

"How long've I been asleep?" Auri asked.

"A good while…" Sides said, "About an hour, I think. Long enough for Amy to go and have a long conversation on her phone with Mariah Phillips."

"Oh, no!" Auri gasped softly. "What did she tell her?" she asked, fearful about what Amy might have told her mentor about the bots.

Sunny answered. "Just that Sides and I have been framing her and our reason for it. And how nobody knew what was going on until just recently, and that it was an awful mess. But that we were saying that we'd make it all better."

"Saying?" Auri echoed indignantly, "We _will_!"

"Well, we do have to prove it first." Sides said, showing some logic for once.

"I suppose so," Auri said, growing thoughtful. "You mechs really, really made a mess of things."

"Understatement." Sunny said.

Auri paused. "Where did Chromia go?"

"I don't know." Sides said, "She just walked off slowly after talking with Ironhide, and we weren't about to stop her to ask _anything_."

"Oh."

"Not after all we've seen her do today or any other day." Sunny added. "She's wicked stuff, you know."

Auri gave them a disapproving look, but in reality, she was rather pleased that she had such a formidable femme as her guardian.

Prowl stirred ever so slightly. The twins met each others' optics, and Auri quickly checked to make sure that Ironhide was close enough to intervene if trouble happened.

Prowl's wings lifted from their lowered position; they rose slowly and lifted higher than usual in semblance of a stretch before lowering to their regular position. Prowl's head lowered a little, and then he blinked his optics open as his head came up.

There was a blank drowsy look on his face for about three seconds, and then he realized that he'd been snuggled up against _Sunstreaker_. At that, he recoiled so suddenly that the momentum threw him off his perch on the edge of the berth, and he went _crash_ on the floor quite soundly.

The next moment he was up on his feet with his stun-guns drawn instinctively. He paused. A look of mild confusion crossed his face, and then he put the guns away as he figured out things. His wings twitched up.

"Is that how you wake up every morning?" Sides asked.

Prowl shook his head slowly. "No..." he said as he gained his bearings, "Fortunately not."

"Did you get hurt much?" Auri asked, concerned for his well-being.

Prowl looked down at himself and the palms of his hands. "I sustained only a few more bruises and scuffs." He said. "The new scuffs are not readily noticeable in my present condition, and I shall attend to all my armoring and finish once I am allowed to leave the premises, anyway."

"Okay." Auri said, content that he was fine.

"'_Okay_'?" he gave her that reproving look.

"Very well, sir." Auri said with a slight gasp.

He nodded his approval, and then he turned and started to walk towards Ironhide. Auri watched him and decided that he had probably smacked his head when he fell off the berth and that that had knocked out the rest of the bits of medication code that had been making him so lenient.

Part way to Ironhide, Prowl paused and then headed towards Prime, skipping Ironhide. Ironhide and Flareup noticed this, and Ironhide's optics twinkled in dry amusement.

Amy was talking when Prowl came near; she finished her sentence and then looked to him to let him speak.

"Prime," Prowl said respectfully, "I request permission to leave Med-Bay so that I may return to my office and get caught up on the work that has been neglected for the past several hours."

Prime's optics met Ironhide's for a split second, and Amy was fairly certain that she saw the Prime blink away a twinkle of amusement.

"I would gladly grant you permission to leave," Prime said, "However, Ratchet requires your presence for a scan."

Prowl's wings pinched back ever so slightly. "Very well, sir." He said. "Where is Ratchet?"

"He is en route from the perimeter and should be here within a couple minutes."

"_Perimeter_?" Prowl's door wings swept upwards, and his expression betrayed him with a look of apprehension.

Prime pursed his lips slightly. "Springer intercepted and shot down a small flying spy-drone that slipped through the security system, and it had a self-destruct sequence that triggered when he got too close. He was not badly hurt, though; only a few repairs were needed."

Prowl frowned.

"Red Alert is taking care of upping the security," Prime told him, "And Wheeljack is examining the remnants as well the camera footage so that he can figure out roughly how it got through and how to stop any further ones." Prime added.

Prowl nodded once. "Good." He said, but his tone was grim. He paused, "It was of Decepticon origin?" he asked.

Prime nodded.

"Good." Prowl said again, and Amy looked shocked.

"Good?!" She asked in a startled tone.

"We had a couple human attacks several years before." Prowl explained, "They were a renegade group that was quickly subdued by our human allies. I said 'good' to the attack being Decepticon because that meant that it was not human. One enemy at a time is plenty."

Amy gulped, trying to fathom this. "I… see." She said.

Prowl was looking away now, though. "One enemy and ourselves…" he said quietly to himself.

Prime gave him a sympathetic look. "We can achieve peace with ourselves, Prowl, if we try."

Prowl nodded slowly after a moment. "If." He said quietly. Ratchet came in then, and Prowl was glad for the interruption.

"How is Springer?" Prime asked the medic.

"He's as mad as can be at himself for not being careful enough," Ratchet replied. "But he'll be quite fine in a couple days and back to work by tomorrow."

Prowl regarded this as fairly favorable news.

"Come, Prowl." Ratchet said, motioning Prowl to follow as he headed away. "I need to scan you and your system."

Prowl went without protest or complaint to the other room with Ratchet and allowed himself to be sedated for the heavy scan. Ratchet set up the scanning device to run, and then he went back into the main room.

"Um-" Ratchet said, suddenly looking uneasy, "Where's Chromia?"

"Coming in the door," Chromia said as she entered.

"Ah." Said Ratchet.

"Why were you wondering?" Chromia asked.

"I was just concerned about safety matters, that's all."

Chromia twisted her lips dryly. "You're real tactful."

Ratchet heard the touch of resentment in her tone. "I didn't mean to be hurtful, Chromia." He said gently. "I didn't."

"It's okay." She said then shrugged. "I guess I had it coming, anyway." She pursed her lips as she looked towards Prime. He met her optics with a gentle expression on his face. "I… I've apologized to Elita." She said, looking away. "Sometimes I wonder that she doesn't regret recruiting me from the gutter-" she broke off quickly when she realized what she'd said and how bitterly she'd said it.

"You have been invaluable to the Autobots," Prime told her with a reproachful shake of his head, "And you've proven yourself a true and loyal friend and warrior many a time over. Even when you have been at your worst, Elita has never regretted befriending or recruiting you."

Chromia looked down. She could not speak for a couple moments. But then she found her voice. "I thank for your kind words." She said softly. "And I… must… apologize for my r-rash ones earlier."

Prime nodded and rose from his seat, holding out his hand to her. He knew that apologizing, especial formal apologizing, was hard for her. She came over and touched his fingers then dropped to one knee. She spoke in formal Cybertronian, unable to translate the words into English or do them credit in a human tongue. Prime accepted the apology in the same language once she had finished, and then he took her hand and gently pulled her up.

She met his optics once she was on her feet again, and he saw how completely remorseful and debased she felt. He hugged her then and there, holding her close to tell her that she was of value and that he would never wish her away.

"This is really formal." She said with light sarcasm after a couple moments. Prime knew then that she would be fine. He let her go, but kept a hand on her shoulder and gave her a gentle look.

She smiled back dryly. "Better move the hand." She said, "My boyfriend's the jealous type." She cocked her head towards Ironhide.

Prime complied and took his hand from her shoulder. He knew, though, Ironhide didn't mind him putting a hand on Chromia's shoulder; it was Chromia who didn't want his hand on her shoulder. She wanted space. She always did and more so after she'd been upset; Ironhide and Elita were the only two who she would ever let near her when she was upset. He met Ironhide's concerned optics briefly to let him know that he wasn't offended, and then he noticed Auri's very intent look of worried curiosity.

"What troubles you, Auri?" he asked,

"I…" Auri said reluctantly, "I just had a question for Chromia…?"

"What is it, Sparklet?" Chromia asked, looking over her shoulder.

"W… what did you mean you were in a gutter?"

Prime was close enough that he saw Chromia's jaw tighten, and he heard her breathe a quiet expletive. Ratchet slipped out of the room to check on Prowl's scan.

"Oh," Chromia said, turning to face her femme-ling, "I was just..." She stopped as she happened to see Flareup watching her. Flareup had never dared to ask about her past, so of course she'd be curious. Chromia had been about to lie, though, and say that she'd just been speaking figuratively. Chromia looked away, not looking at anybody. She couldn't lie this time, not with Flareup there. "I was older than Flareup," she said to cover up why she'd been gazing at Flareup. She spoke calmly. "I was quite a good bit older, actually, and I was living in the worse part of the bad part of a city at the time. I'd made more than a couple enemies, and I'd infuriated one thug-lord in particular. He… he decided I needed a lesson, and so I was ambushed in an alley, cuffed to a light-post, and…"

Prime saw her optics harden, but she went on without emotion, "He proceeded to beat me and kick me. I was nearly unconscious when Elita and two of her friends came prancing up in their special issue battle armor. They were part of an elite force that was newly stationed on the good side of the city, and they'd taken the wrong road in. They were well-polished, well-armed, and quite authoritive. They made him back down with a few words and a couple suggestive gun movements. Elita came over to me once he was on his way, and then I completely blacked out." She shrugged. "So I was in a gutter when she found me." She finished. She heard a sniffle and looked up to see that Auri was crying. "Blast it, Aurion Blaze!" she snapped, "Don't cry about me! I survived, did I not?!"

"W-well, y-yes," Auri sobbed, "B-but… s-still. Th-that's-s a-awful."

"No, it wasn't." Chromia said curtly, "I woke up four days later in a very nice Med-Bay, Elita visited me every day, and the medics took care of me. Elita and I became friends while I recovered, and then I joined her force shortly after I was released from the Med-Bay. And I met Ironhide while I was on guard-duty under her command. So there. Stop crying."

Auri sniffled and made herself stop crying to suit Chromia. Sunny patted Auri on the shoulder, and Sides gave her an extra hug while giving Chromia a reproachful look.

"What?!" she snapped at Sunny. He shook his head and dropped his optics; he wasn't going to confront her. She sighed. "Mm sorry, Little One." She said reluctantly to Auri, "I… You're right. It _was_ awful. I just fight sympathy and avoid crying about the past because that's how I cope." She looked around, "Where's Prowl?" she said as if he was something on a list of things she was looking for.

"He is in the other room." Prime said, sitting back down, "Ratchet is finalizing a scan on him."

"Oh." Chromia wasn't delighted that she would have to wait. She looked around and found Amy on the counter near Prime watching her. The femme cocked an optic-ridge at the human, giving her a challenging look.

Amy felt she should say something. She paused and then asked, "I guess you'd rather me not write about that bit of past that you related…?"

Chromia gave her a look of surprise. "W- thank-you for asking." She said, rather impressed. She paused. "I would rather you not publish or share it. But you can write it down to remember it if you wish."

"Alright, thank-you. C-could I share it with my mentor on the condition that she not share it either?"

Chromia nodded. "Yes, you can. I liked what I've heard about her."

Amy smiled. "She is really nice. Thank-you."

Chromia gave her a nod. "You're welcome."

"Here's Prowl," Amy said, motioning behind Chromia turned.

Prowl looked slightly apprehensive. "You were looking for me?"

"Just so I can apologize to you." Chromia reassured him. "You were acting in Elita's defense, something I would do myself. I apologize for picking that fight with you and… fighting dirty."

Prowl half-shrugged a wing in mild discomfort. "Apology accepted." He said. "I should have known better than to grab your arm."

Chromia smiled a bit. "Uh-huh." She said. "You should've." She cocked her head and looked over at Auri, "I'll bet he didn't tell you what happened when he and I first met."

Auri shook her head. Prowl's door-wings lowered a bit.

Chromia smiled wryly. "Ironhide introduced us, and Prowl reached out his hand. I misinterpreted his intentions, so I punched him so hard in the face that it knocked him out."

Auri gasped. "You didn't!"

"I did." Chromia said. Auri blinked. Surely…

"She did." Prowl said with a rather rueful look. "It left a severe bruise, and many of my fellows and higher-ups asked me what had happened. Fortunately, for me, however, I was not the only one in the outpost whom she had met with hostilities."

Chromia snorted. "He just had to answer, 'I met that blue femme who just came with Elita-One's guard,' and everybody said 'ooooh' and nodded understandingly. Or winced sympathetically."

Prowl paused. "Not exactly, but…"

"Prowllll. I generalized."

"In that case, yes. And nobody crossed you a second time."

"Very true." Chromia said. "They just wrote letters of complaint to Elita. I soon learned that when she came into the barracks with a data-pad in her hand and a stern but long-suffering look on her face that I was in for a talking to."

Flareup smiled. "Did you room alone?" she asked.

"Oh, no." Chromia said, smiling, "I stayed with Elita and several other femmes. I got along well enough with the femmes. It was the _mechs_ who I didn't get along well with."

"Ah." Flareup said. She considered what she'd seen of Chromia and the mechs on NEST in light of this new information, and it made more sense now, why some of them tended to be wary of her.

Ultra Magnus came in at this moment. Chromia grinned. "I was just thinking about you, Magnus." She said.

The big mech paused. "How thoughtful." He said without sentiment. "Prime, I have taken care of the things that you asked me to attend to, and I have brought you the files that you asked for." He handed a data-pad to Prime.

Prime took the data-pad. "Thank-you." He said, activating it to look at the documents. Magnus waited, avoiding Chromia's optics, and Amy looked at him, thinking about the night that she'd gone on part of his patrol with him. She'd told him the problems she'd been having, and he'd said he would help her. But the twin's tricks had convinced him that she was lying, and he'd turned away from her harshly, leaving her feeling quite hurt if not betrayed.

Magnus's optics presently drifted to her and met her eyes. They held. He knew about the twins shenanigans now. He realized how badly he'd treated her. He needed-

"Magnus," Prime said,

He returned his attention to his leader.

Prime handed the data-pad back to him. "Have the documents complied into a report please, highest priority."

"Yes, sir."

"Also, please contact the electronics department regarding Agent Sora's laptops, and add the information pertaining to the virus to our vira-info database."

"Yes, sir."

"That will be all."

Magnus gave him a nod and glanced back at Amy once more before he left, and his glance seemed to hold a promise for later.

"Prowl," Prime said,

"Sir?"

"Take an hour break,"

"B-!" Prowl started to object.

Prime gave him a warning look. "Take an hour break. Do whatever you need to, refuel, tend your armor, and think about the things that have happened today and how you handled them. Then you may return to your office."

"Yes, sir." Prowl said. He turned and headed towards the door, but then he paused and went over to Auri and the twins. He motioned Auri down, and she slipped off, giving him a curious look. He gave her a gentle hug. "I am sorry for the upset and… trauma, that my actions today have caused you."

"It is alright, Prowl." She told him softly. "I am just glad that it is going to be fine now."

He half-smiled at her. After another moment, he looked to the twins. "Sunstreaker, Sideswipe," He said,

They looked at him, dreading what he could possibly have to say to them.

"I… I was completely wrong to lose my temper and thrash you two." He said quietly, "I should have _never_ laid a fist into either of you. I apologize for betraying you in my role as a law-officer, and I apologize for hurting you. I-" he broke off. "I am sorry, twins."

Sunny and Sides were filled with wonder… he had apologized to them…? He had. They looked at each other. It was astonishing…

Sunny spoke for his brother as well as himself. "We accept your apology, Prowl." He said, respect and sincerity in his tone. "Thank-you."

Prowl wanted to answer, but… he couldn't find the right words. He transformed quickly and drove out the doors hastily.

"I'm impressed with the little winger." Chromia said softly.

"As am I." Prime agreed gently as he rose.

"Leaving?" Ratchet asked him.

"I had better." Prime said then he looked to Ironhide, "We all should, actually."

Ironhide nodded and got up, helping Flareup off the berth as well.

"Am I going back to the brig?" the young femme asked.

Ironhide cocked his head. "Ah… no." he decided. "But you are grounded. You're to stay in your quarters until further notice."

"Yes, sir." She said reluctantly, but she knew he wasn't being unfair. She gave him a hug and then went over to hug Auri and the twins. "You guys keep out of trouble for two days, okay?"

"We'll try." Sides teased her.

"I love you, Auri." She told her little sister. "I'll see you tomorrow, hopefully."

"Okay." Auri said, "I love you, too."

Flareup gave her a fond smile and then headed for the door.

"Hey," Chromia said. Flareup stopped. "You forgot somebody."

"Oh, Prime." Flareup went over and hugged Prime to tease Chromia.

Optimus hugged her back genty then and gave her a smile as he moved away to tell Amy bye.

Flareup turned to Chromia, and the older femme put her arms around her and hugged her close. "Sorry I got you into trouble by the contraband." She whispered.

"Hey," Flareup said as she stepped back, "It's okay. I should have said no."

"You should have." Chromia agreed with a smile. She smacked Flareup's behind lightly. "Go on back to your quarters, femme. I'll see what trouble we can get into tomorrow."

"Hah!" Flareup smiled and went on her way.

"What are your plans for the rest of the afternoon?" Ironhide asked Auri.

"I'm going to the office and getting back to work." Auri said. "Or looking after my liaison." She added as she remembered that Amy needed to be taken care of.

"Very good." Said Ironhide then he turned to Chromia, "I'll walk you home then."

"And I'll invite you in." Chromia replied with a flirty look. She went over and gave her little Auri a snuggly hug. "I hope you'll good rest of the day, Sweet Spark." She said fondly.

Auri smiled and didn't need to reply. She scampered over and gave Ironhide a hug, and then she went to the counter were Amy was as her guardians headed for the door.

"Well," she said, "Do you want to go to your apartment, or would you like to come to the office with me? You can work on your stuff while I work, and we can talk when things don't need tending."

"Going to the office sounds good," Amy said, able to tell that the little femme wanted her at the office.

"Okay." Auri said happily. She scampered over and hugged her twins and wished them well and told them to behave. Then she got Amy down from the counter and transformed, opening a door.

"Farewell, Ratchet." Auri called, "Good luck with the twins."

"I'll need it." Ratchet said, smiling at the little Audi. "Take care."

"I shall." Auri replied merrily as she closed her door.

Amy fastened her seatbelt.

"Shall we ram the doors like Prowl?" Auri asked.

"Ah! No! I'd rather we not!"

"Sh, sh. I was teasing." Auri calmed her. "Ratchet would probably smack me if I did that." She bumped the doors lightly as she went out carefully then drove down the ramp and onto the road.

Back to the office they went, and Auri gasped as how many phone calls had gone to the answering machine.

"I am going to be rather busy for a little while…" she told Amy.

"It's alright." Amy told her, "Just find a place where I can sit, and I'll work on my notes while you work."

"Very well." Auri said. She found a clear place on top of a filing-cabinet and lifted Amy onto it. "Will this work?"

"It will do nicely." Amy said, surveying the view. She liked it.

Auri climbed into Prowl's office chair and tucked her legs under her so that she was higher up. Then she began dealing with the phone messages. She listened to each one, typing out verbatim what several of them said, and then she either called the person back and talked with him or her, or she put the information aside for Prowl to deal with when he returned.

Prowl came in after a little less than an hour.

"Hello," Auri greeted him as she climbed out of his chair.

"Hello," he said, looking down at the pile of documents that she'd made and sorted. "Good work." He told her, and she looked quite pleased.

"Thank-you." She said.

"Have you had time to write a report about what happened from your point of view?"He asked as sat down at this desk.

"No, sir." Auri said, "I have not."

"Do that now, please." Prowl told her as he fingered the top data-pad on the stack.

"What about this?" she asked, holding up a data-pad.

He took it and looked at it. "You can take care of this after you write your report."

"The report may take a while to write…"

Prowl's wings flicked downwards. "You will write it now." He told her firmly. "I know how reports go. You will not be writing it after hours."

Auri didn't say anything but took the data-pad back and put it away reluctantly.

"Aurion," Prowl said sternly, watching her.

"Yes, sir." She said with a sigh, "I will write it now. I would just rather not, though."

Prowl twitched a wing. "Why not?"

Auri made a bit of a face. "Because I will be upset while I write it, and I might cry, but I do not want to cry about it here…" she started to tear up a little.

Prowl hesitated, debating.

"Please don't make me write it here and now…" Auri stuffed the palms of her hands against her optics.

"No. Do not do that." Prowl told her.

"D-do what?" Auri asked, sniffling.

"Cry to get your way. It is excessively unprofessional, and I object to it."

"I am-m n-not doing that, P-Prowl. Mm not…! I just c-can-n-not help it r-right now-!"

Prowl reconsidered what to do. She wouldn't lie to him, so she had to be telling the truth.

"It was very upsetting for you then?" he asked, trying his hand at being empathetic.

Auri nodded and tried to be cooperative. "Y-yes… it was."

Prowl rubbed the palm of his hand on the edge of his desk, trying to figure out how to talk her out of… of… he wasn't sure. He was quite in the dark.

"What upset you the most?" he tried.

"Realizing that Soundwave nearly got me." Auri said, drying her optics.

Amy saw Prowl stiffen. His fingertips pressed hard against the desk.

"Auri…" Logic told him that there was no sense in getting riled after the fact. "Soundwave was there?" he asked in a normal tone, pretending that he didn't feel his mid-workings clenching in anxiety.

Auri nodded. "He came two or three minutes after I did." She said, "I wasn't scared at all, and I didn't realize it was him because he was confusing my mind with his waves." She stopped and looked at Prowl with troubled optics. "I was going to go with him…"

"But Elita came, did she not?" Prowl said.

Auri nodded. "She came and stopped the waves and rescued me. And _then_ I was scared because I realized what had almost happened."

"I can understand that." Prowl said, wondering what else he could say.

Auri looked down. "I think I can the report now." She said softly.

"I appreciate that." Prowl said gently.

Auri nodded and then went off to sit at her computer and write on her data-pad. Prowl worked at his computer for a few minutes and then got up to get a small cube of Energon for himself from the office stash.

"Auri?"

"Yes, sir?" she looked over.

"Would you like some Energon?"

"No." she said, "Thank-you, though."

"Did you have lunch?" he asked, his tone semi-suspicious.

"Yes, Commander Prowl, I did in fact. Did you?"

Prowl's wings flattened a little. "Do not be so pert with me." He said, but his tone wasn't overly stern.

"You avoided my question," she pointed out, drawing a circle in the air with her finger.

"That I cannot deny." He said, heading back to his desk.

"Can you deny that you skipped lunch?" Auri asked.

"Enough. Know your place, little one." He said, and there was such a look of exasperation on his face that Amy couldn't help but chuckle.

Prowl started at this unexpected noise. He turned quickly, his wings swooping up in preparation for fight or flight as he dropped his Energon cube.

"Agent Sora." He said. He stooped and retrieved his cube. "I did not know you were here."

"Well, you do now…" she said, unable to keep from smiling at his perplexed look.

"Yes." He said, "Your presence has been finally noted." He gave Auri a sideways look.

"I would have told you, but I never got a chance." Auri said.

"That-…" he paused. "That is true." He said. "However, next time, please make sure that you _make_ a chance, even if you must interrupt or delineate from a topic, understood?"

"Understood." Auri said, and she smiled because she knew he wasn't mad at her.

Amy found staying in the office quite enjoyable. The office was a peaceful workplace; Prowl seemed to be completely content with his work and did it steadily, taking breaks from it as needed when Auri had questions. Auri clearly enjoyed her work half the time, was content with it a quarter of the time, and was distracted from it an eighth of the time, and perplexed or frustrated with it the other eighth. This other eighth was when Prowl gave her a gentle word of encouragement, some instruction, or a firm word or look as he saw fit.

Prowl took half the calls and directed the other half to Auri based on who showed up on caller ID.

"Is there some rule or code as to which of you takes the call?" Amy asked. She'd been made free to ask questions.

Prowl looked over at her and thought about it. "There are certain people that… that Auri can handle better than I can." He said, "And there are certain areas of knowledge that I have that she does not. I daresay it basically comes down to people skills versus technical knowledge."

"Plus I can play 'cute, sweet, and innocent' with cross people in a way that Prowl definitely cannot." Auri added with a cheeky twinkle in her optics.

"Did you never try?" Amy asked Prowl, venturing to tease him.

"I tried it with my guardian was I was little." Prowl spoke seriously, but Amy could tell from the bit of a smile that he gave her that he appreciated the jest. "It did not work after a certain age, so I gave it up." He said. "Femme-lings seem to be exempt from outgrowing the trick, though." He gave Auri a look.

"Me?!" she exclaimed with a mock-innocent tone, "I'll have you know that Ironhide is quite firm with me about it."

"On the rare occasions when he actually realizes that he has been conned." Prowl countered with a bit of a twinkle in his optics.

"Aw…! That's a mean word." Auri said, making a pouty face.

Prowl started to smile but then stopped himself. "Let us not get too sidetracked from our work." He said gently. "…Unless Sora more questions for us."

"Actually," Amy said, "You brought one up for me."

"Oh? Let us hear it then."

"Guardians. Sparklings." She said. "Are there just guardians… and not parents? And where do sparklings come from?"

Prowl paused, thinking "_Uh-oh._"

"Ohh…!" Auri said. "We never explained that to you, did we." She said. "My old guardian explained it to me. Sparklings are formed in the most beautiful one of all the nebulas, Butterfly Nebula."

At this point, Prowl jumped up and froze, but Auri went on cheerfully, "Their sparks are formed from leftover bits of stars, and theirs beings come from all the joy and love that catches in the breezes and gets blown oh-so-gently across the galaxies."

Prowl looked positively aghast and like the floor should eat him up as a favor.

Auri continued with her blithe narrative, "When a mech and femme have made a home together, and they wish for the blessing of a sparkling that their joy may be complete, Zephyr, the most beautiful and elusive of Seeker-femmes, chooses a sparkling for them. And she sends it to them by medics who are her special messengers, and the pair looks after it and cares for it until it is grown."

"Huh…" Amy said, trying to digest this, "That's… interesting."

Prowl made a quiet strangled noise.

"Prowl…?" Amy asked, "Are you alright?"

"Th-that's –is- not what happens." He choked out, a look of dismay on his face.

"That's not?" Auri asked, a look of wonder on her face.

"No." Prowl said firmly, having regained his composure. "What you have told here is a… a sparkling myth." He turned to Amy, "It it like the tales that humans tell their younglings about babies coming from a cabbage patch or being delivered by a… duck?"

"Stork." Auri said.

"Oh…" Amy said, her eyes widening. She smiled. That explained why some of it seemed a little fanciful.

"Stork…" Prowl echoed thoughtfully. "Aurion!"

She jumped up quickly and couldn't hide the mischievous grin on her face.

"Aurion-Blaze! You knew very well that you were telling Agent Sora a myth." He accused.

The femme-ling's wings shook with her laughter, and she could not deny it. She sat back down and kept laughing.

"Yes, I am sure that was very funny." Prowl said, not showing a bit of amusement.

"Y-y-your f-f-face-!" Auri gasped out between giggles, "W-w-was-s P-Priceless-s-s-!" she went off in another round of laughter, laughing so hard that she dropped off her stool and sat on the floor to giggle.

Amy chuckled softly. Poor Prowl must have been horrified, she realized in amusement.

Prowl watched Auri giggle. She flopped onto her back and kept giggling. He couldn't decide how to respond. He thought about it a little while and then decided that simply telling her that that was enough would do.

"Auri," he said, "That is enough."

She gasped and kept giggling, though.

"Aurion."

She started to cough.

He went over to her quickly and rolled her over so she was face down and gave her a hard thump between the shoulders with the heel of his hand.

She gasped and then seemed to be fine, so he got her up and gave her a stern look. She sobered and then looked down.

"It was funny…" she said softly.

Prowl stood there with his hand on her shoulder. He told his spark to stop melting. And he told himself to not be too hard on her. And he told himself that he should not be so lax with her. He told himself that discipline should be maintained, and that professionalism was vital to his office.

She looked up at him, fearful of being in big trouble because of his silence.

"No doubt it was." He said gently, "But I would appreciate it if you would not laugh yourself sick over it."

"It was the tension." Auri said with a sigh. "I was all stressed, and then the giggles got in edgewise, and I couldn't stop."

Prowl's wings rose a little. "Ah." He supposed that made sense. "You feel better now, then?"

She nodded. "Immensely."

"Good." He said with a bit of a sigh. He nudged her back to her stool as he took his hand off her shoulder.

"Did I dismay you terribly with my story?" Auri asked as she climbed up and sat.

"More or less." He answered as he went back to his desk. He sat down then looked over at Amy. "Sparklings do have parents." He told her. "Auri has guardians because her parents are dead."

"No, they're not." Auri objected, sounding annoyed, "They're missing in action."

Prowl paused. This was new information. "Are they?" he asked.

She shook her head. "Nnno… They are dead. I… just… I don't know why I said that." She looked down. She looked more puzzled than upset, though.

"I know why." Prowl said gently. "It is hard to accept that your creator and carrier are gone. I struggled with it myself for a long time." He watched Amy until she finished writing her couple sentences. "Regarding where sparklings come from," he said, "Transformers… reproduce not unlike humans. It takes intimacy between a mech and a femme, and the femme carries the sparkling until its birth. There you have it."

"Thank-you." Amy said, making more notes.

"And you have a sparkling myth, too." Prowl added, "They are rarely told, however. Most parents and guardians avoid lying to their children. If the question is asked, the answer –generally- is either vague or has the phrase 'when you are older' in it."

"'When you're older…'" Amy echoed with a smile. "That's something we humans can relate to."

Prowl nodded.

"Is that the exact myth that your old guardian told you, Auri?" Amy asked.

"He actually never told me a myth." Auri answered a little shamefacedly, "That was part of my trick on Prowl. I got the 'when you're older' treatment. I said, 'Where did me and the other little ones come from?' And he looked at me thoughtfully and said, 'It is a special secret. When you have grown to be this tall, then you shall know.' And he held up his hand rather high up." She paused but went on when Amy gave her a curious look. "He was gone by the time I was that tall. I read it from a medical book, though. I was studying many things at that time."

Amy looked to Prowl.

Prowl played ignorant and resumed typing on his computer.

"Prowl?" Amy asked, "What did your guardian tell you?"

The typing stopped, and Prowl gazed at his keyboard for a moment before he answered. "My guardian was Ironhide when I asked. The mother of one of my playmates was expecting, and we little fellows had some sort of debate as to where this sparkling was coming from. I was a skeptical thing from the beginning, so I disregarded all their ideas and went to Ironhide and told him about the situation. And then I said, 'So. I want to know where a sparkling really comes from.'"

Auri giggled softly. "That was very direct."

"I was always direct. –_almost_ always." Prowl corrected himself. "Ironhide smiled and said, 'Well…' and I gave him my skeptic look."

"I want to see your skeptic look." Auri said.

"You see it every day." Prowl objected.

"Please?"

He hesitated, but then he pulled the expression for her before he went back to his narrative. "Ironhide smiled at my look and then said, 'A mech and a femme make the sparkling.' I said, 'How?' and he paused then said 'It's a pretty complicated… process, Prowlie. It's sort of like putting together puzzle. But it's tricky, and it takes all the right components and some chemicals.' And I figured that he was telling me the truth, so I said 'okay' and went on my way." He smiled his half-smile then. "I told my companions that sparklings were like puzzles so they must come from some special mail-order puzzle company. And I believe somebody's mother took exception to this and came over to take Ironhide to task for such a starting story."

"Oh, dear!" Amy exclaimed, but she couldn't help but laugh at the thought of a young Autobot mother with her hands on her hips angrily scolding Ironhide because she thought he'd told the children that babies came from puzzle companies.

Prowl chuckled softly despite himself and shook his head.

"Tell me, what's your first memory?" Amy asked, thoroughly enjoying the sparkling tales.

Prowl paused, but Auri smiled.

"Auri?" Amy asked, cocking her head.

Auri looked happy. "Mine was when I had just figured out how to stand up by pulling myself up on things. One day I pulled myself up by the leg of the small table, and then I saw on top of the table, and there was the most delightful-looking package all wrapped up with pretty designs. And I _knew_ it was for me, but I couldn't reach it, so I had to wait. I plopped back down on my behind and waited and waited, and then I got up again and peeked at the package. And then I sat back down again and waited some more. My guardian finally came in, and I got up and chirped at him and pointed to the package. He chuckled at me, and then he gave me the package for being such a clever sparkling." She giggled, "I have no recollection of what was inside it, but I remember playing with the wrapping for days."

"That's a darling and wonderful first memory, Auri." Amy said, her eyes sparkling with delight, "Thank-you for sharing it."

"You're welcome." Auri said, and then the attention was turned to Prowl.

"Must I?" he asked.

"If-"

"Is it something terrible?" Auri asked, interrupting Amy.

Prowl shook his head. "No…" he thought about it. "I… I was about the age Auri was; I had just figured out how to pull myself up onto things. My… my femme-creator had sat me on a chair at our table while she mixed some Energon for lunch, and I thought I would be clever and stand up. So I did, and I saw a nice cube on Energon just within reach. It was not closed or sealed, so when I grabbed, it tipped, and I was knocked over by a sticky wave of Energon. Fortunately, I did not fall off the chair, but I was very upset about getting covered in Energon. My fem-cree did not get upset me for spilling the stuff, though. She laughed softly and 'oh, dear, my poor little one.' And then she took me gently in her arms and gave me a nice warm bath, comforting me with purrs and kind words so I would not be upset about the accident."

"What a sweet fem-cree." Auri said softly, wishing she'd known hers.

Prowl nodded. "She was. And now Sora, your first memory."

"Mine…?" Amy laughed, taken by surprise at his jest, "Mine's… Wait. I have a question."

"Ask." Prowl said, hiding a smile.

"Those are _very_ early memories by human standards. People generally don't remember things from their toddler years. Is this how all or most Transformers are, remembering very early things?"

"Indeed." Prowl said. "We have … I do not mean to condescend, but we have superior memory retention and recall. Most bots will be able to recall things from their 'toddler years.'"

"WelChal," Amy said sincerely, "I'm glad that you do. Those stories were quite delightful, and I enjoyed every bit of them."

"I am glad you did." Auri said.

"Are you not going to share yours?" Prowl asked expectantly,

"I- uh-…" Amy stuttered, rather startled at having the tables turned on her. She'd thought he'd been joking…

"Oh, Prowl," Auri reproached her commander.

Prowl glanced down. "I _was_ teasing you, Agent Sora." He admitted. "I rarely tease, and then when I do, it throws people completely off."

"And do you enjoy it?" Amy asked, rather intrigued at this.

Prowl gave her a darkly mischievous look. "I do." He said.

* * *

I finally made a picture of Auri is police-bot mode -with her black, white, and gray color scheme- and posted it on deviantArt. :) Have a look! cairistona. deviantart art/ Miss-Officer- 346479881

And review! ;)


	80. Chapter 80, Magnus, Twins, Chromia

Uh, so, I'm sure some of you readers may live in _much_ colder places, but I just have to say that my new home is farther north than my old home, and I have just experienced single-digit temperatures (Fahrenheit) for the first time, and I'm not a complete fan. It's really, **_really_** cold for me with the wind-chill!

That was totally unrelated to my story, but I felt like saying that.

So, here's the next chapter. I would have had Amy share her first memory, but I couldn't think of one for her.

* * *

Chapter 80

**Magnus, Chromia, Twins**

Once the office closed for the evening, Prowl wished Auri and Amy a good night then walked off with a data-pad in his hand. Auri transformed and opened a door for Amy to climb in.

"He's never without a data-pad." Auri commented to Amy as the later fastened her seat belt.

"Is it always for work?" Amy asked.

"The twins tease and say that it is, but I asked once, and it isn't. He said it is for reading our great literary works. I've tried reading a couple of them, but the dialects were ones that I wasn't familiar with, so I found them too difficult. Prowl is extremely well-educated, though."

"That I can tell."

"He's what the twins call 'elite stuff.'"

Amy chuckled. "I can easily imagine them saying that."

"And they are what Prowl calls 'trouble.'"

"No kidding." Amy said with a good-natured smile.

"Oooouh." Said Auri in amazement.

"Pardon?"

"Sunny just intercommed me. Um… apparently you don't exactly have a car. Part of the time it was him, and part of the time it was Sides."

"They… Wait… What?"

"They took turns masquerading as your car so they could keep a constant eye on you. And they could fake the car-problems quiet easily, and then be fine when you had them checked out."

Amy repressed a shudder. How closely had they been watching her? It gave her the creeps; not only had they been sabotaging her, they'd been stalking her. But… "How did the other bots not know-?!"

"Cloaking devices." Auri said ruefully. "They are masters at whatever they do."

"Man!" Amy exclaimed, amazed at it all.

"We'll get it taken care of." Auri said. "Eventually…" she added with a sigh.

At the apartment, Amy got out and Auri transformed. Amy watched, still in awe of the transformation sequence, and then she thanked Auri for the stories and the good time that she'd had at the office.

"Did you really have a good time?" Auri asked, watching her hopefully.

"I did." Amy said, "It was very wonderful, and I think it made up for at least two of the bad days." She added with a smile.

This made Auri grin happily. "Oh, good!" she said, her wings flitting a little, "I'm very glad! Tomorrow will be even better, for we won't have the drama that we had this morning."

"Hopefully not." Amy said, "I'll see you in the morning."

"Oh, yes." Auri assured her. "You will. Good night. –Good night and sleep well."

"Thank-you. You, too." Amy replied, and then she headed indoors as Auri drove away. She ordered a delivery pizza for dinner, feeling lazy, and she sat on the couch and watched the last half of a chick-flick that was playing on television. She'd seen it before, so she didn't mind starting half-way through.

Then she went upstairs and flopped down on her bed. She wasn't ready to sleep yet, nor was it very late, but it felt good to just lie on her back and gaze up at the ceiling. The nightmare of the past days was over. It was like a massive tidal wave had just washed over and swept everything bad anyway, cleaning the slate. Things would be brand new tomorrow, and the twins were going to apologize and explain away everything so that, hopefully, the other bots would work on trusting her instead of blocking her out. And the afternoon hours with Prowl and Auri had been very enjoyable. She sighed in contentment, happier than she'd been in a while.

She closed her eyes and relaxed, just listening to the sounds around her. The quiet hum of the fridge, the distant thrum of a helicopter on patrol, the occasional Jeep going up a nearby road… A big diesel truck idling not far down the block…

She sat up and went to her window. Pushing back the curtains and drawing up the mini-blinds, she peeked out. Ultra Magnus was at the stop sign, waiting his turn because a Jeep of allies had the right-of-way. The Jeep passed, and he hesitated for several long seconds before he pulled forward. Amy watched, and he drove over, stopping in front of her apartment. He transformed and met her eyes.

She opened the window and put her head and upper body out, resting her hands on the window sill. "Hello." She said.

"Good evening." He replied then glanced down before meeting her eyes again. "I've come to apologize."

"You're about the eighth one today." She said with a friendly smile, intending to encourage him and set him at ease. Her words seemed to have the opposite effect of what she'd hoped, though. She saw his optics flicker then darken a little, and he stiffened as if bracing himself against something uncertain.

Indeed, he was bracing himself against something uncertain: her and her response. He had come to apologize –he'd made that clear-, but she was smiling and trying to laugh it off (it seemed). How to take this, he was not sure. The offence he'd committed had been a serious one, and his apology was to be no less serious than his offence. But she was laughing (in a way) at his spoken intent to apologize… would she laugh at his apology, too? Brush it off? Apologizing was hard and uncomfortable enough without the risk of ridicule.

He had already set himself up for ridicule, anyway, he realized, in that he'd said he would help her but had not. The full extent of his apology would include reparation, a making-up for the wrongs; she could well laugh at that because of his earlier betrayal of his promise to help. And he could hardly blame her for it.

"Did my words offend you?" Amy asked uncertainly. He'd gone too long without saying anything.

"They… did not." Magnus said slowly. "They…" he hesitated, "Trouble me."

"Trouble you? Why so?"

"I fear you might not understand how serious I am."

Amy breathed a silent "oh…" at this. She shook head. "I didn't mean to convey that." She said softly, "I only wanted you to not be uncomfortable about apologizing. I… I meant to lighten the mood. We… humans… are… like that. If you are serious, I will know and understand that you are serious." She paused, "I won't laugh at your apology." She told him.

He bowed his head slightly in acknowledgement of her words. Then his optics met her eyes again. A determined look commanded his expression, and Amy thought it handsome but dared not smile for fear of him thinking she was laughing at him. "I …" he said, "An apology is to fit the social circumstance as well as the offence."

Amy nodded her understanding.

"Our social circumstance and my offence warrant a formal apology." He said. He hesitated uneasily then dropped to one knee then as Chromia had done before her apology to Prime. "You… turned to me at time when you were troubled and distressed, and I…" it hurt to admit, "I spoke words saying that I would help you and ease the burden of your struggles. I spoke words that promised relief and gave hope. However," he paused grimly, "I trusted in my fellows too surely and prided myself in my judgment too confidently. I judged quickly, siding with my kind. It was a… a grievous error of prejudice as well pride and self-confidence. I turned from my promise and did not seek to help as I promised and as I should regardless of the circumstances. I broke my promise to you, I was discourteous to you, and I betrayed your trust _appallingly_. For all this, and any other offence I may have committed against you, I sincerely apologize and ask your forgiveness." He paused for barely a second, "I also offer reparations. I n-know that nothing I can do will truly take away what hurt I have caused, but through reparations I wish to show that I would undo the harm I did if it was possible and to emphasize the sincerity of my regret."

His apology was done then. He kept his optics down as was the custom and awaited her reply.

Amy knew that she was going to accept his apology -one did not _not accept_ apologies like that one-, but it had left her speechless. She swallowed. She didn't even know how to go about accepting this sort of apology. Prime had answered Chromia's formal apology with quite a few words; Amy supposed she should have an eloquent answer as well.

"I…" she managed to say after several seconds. She swallowed again. "I a-accept your apology, Ultra Magnus," She said, "I freely forgive you, and I accept your offer of reparations." Perhaps it wasn't as eloquent as Prime's acceptance, but it was as sincere and heartfelt.

Magnus's head came up, his optics searching. She smiled gently at him and held out her hand. An answering smile touched his serious face as he rose and carefully put warm metallic fingers against her hand.

"I thank you." He said. "What do you wish of me for my reparations? Or, do you wish to think about it?"

Amy smiled that uneasy smile that people smile when out of their league. "I'd appreciate some time to think about it."

Magnus's optics twinkled sympathetically. "You have no idea what to do." He said.

Amy chuckled sheepishly, knowing that she'd been caught. "You're right. I have no idea. Humans don't really do this."

"I have noticed." He said. "Well… One th-" he stopped with a sudden look of frustration. "Intercom." He said grimly, "I must go. We will later but not tonight."

"Very well." Amy said with a slight brief nod, and Magnus gave her a quick odd look.

"You spent the afternoon with Prowl, didn't you." He said.

She blinked in astonishment. "I… yes."

"I wish I knew why he did that to people." He said with a quick shake of his head. "Or, rather, _how _he did it. Good night."

"Good night." Amy said, wondering what he meant about Prowl. He was heading down the street now, though. She'd have to ask him later.

OoOoOoOoOoOoO

Auri paused at her guardians' quarters, wondering what awaited her there. Ironhide? Chromia? Both? Hopefully nothing blush-worthy. Nothing stressful, either, would be nice. She keyed in the passcode and stuck her head in, keeping the rest of herself outside. Ironhide looked up from scattered cannon pieces at the table and smiled at her.

"Get in here." he told her, his command a loving one in a warm tone.

She slipped in and came over, hugging him before climbing onto the stool beside his to look at the disassembled weapon.

"Messy." She said.

He smiled at her judgment, but he didn't look amused; he looked concerned.

"Are you alright?" he asked gently.

Auri hesitated, and her little door-wings lowered. "It was stressful and rough…" she said softly after a bit. She picked up a piece of metal to finger. "An' scary, too." She turned the metal over in her hands. She knew which part of the cannon this was and where it went; that was oddly pleasing. "But I'm alright." She looked up and smiled then. "All of us survived."

Ironhide smiled at her. "We did." He said.

"And we get to try again tomorrow."

Ironhide chuckled. "Fortunately." He said then looked back down at his cannon pieces.

"Why did you take it all apart?" Auri asked.

"_I_ didn't."

"Chromia?" Auri guessed, and Ironhide nodded. "Oh." Auri said. She paused. "Revenge?"

He looked at her, chuckling. "MyAuri, this _not_ what Chromia-revenge looks like. Chromia-revenge…" he paused and shook his head. "Chromia-revenge is wicked-stuff, borderline brutal. She took this cannon apart because she needed something to do."

"And then she didn't put it back together." Auri said, finding two pieces that interlocked.

"Because," Ironhide said with a gentle note, "She knows I'd rather put my weapons back together myself. I trust her with reassembly; I trust her completely, and she knows that. But she knows my preferences."

Auri looked at the two pieces that she'd fitted together then held them out to him. He took them and checked them then nodded and gave them back to her.

"Those are right." He said. "You can help. My next preference is overseeing the reassembly of my weapons."

Auri chuckled softly, amused at his words and delighted at having permission to help. "That way you just do the easy work." She teased, winning a grin from him.

"Impudence." He said, tapping her nose lightly. She giggled at this, and they set to work on reassembling the weapon. Auri worked studiously, double-checked what she did, and made sure that Ironhide approved every step. Ironhide worked with the confident ease of the old pro that he was, watched Auri's work, and gave her guidance her when she needed it or asked for it.

She started to work more slowly after a little and looked more thoughtful.

"Tired?" Ironhide asked, knowing she would need an early evening.

She shook her head. "Not yet. I was just thinking." She hesitated. "You really trust Chromia with your life, don't you?" she said softly, looking up at him.

He paused, wondering why she said this, then nodded once. "Yes, I do." He said.

"Because… she could put something together wrong, and if your cannon malfunctioned, you could get hurt or killed…" she murmured.

Ironhide reached over and hugged her. "I trust Chromia with my life countless ways." He told her. "Most spark-mates are like that."

She snuggled against him. "And sparklings they trust, too." She told him. Then she quit snuggling. "We'd better finish this thing before I get sleepy." She said.

Ironhide looked curious. "And why's that?" he asked.

"'Cause it will _bother_ me if we leave it mostly finished but not done."

"We'd finish it first thing in the morning, though." Ironhide pointed out,

"It would still bother me." Auri said.

Ironhide smiled then, his optics twinkling. "I think that is a door-winger trait." He said. "Prowl and Bee felt about the same way when we did small projects."

Auri chuckled at the thought of Prowl and Bee being little and helping Ironhide with things. She quit when the door opened.

Chromia came in, all clean, smelling ever so slightly of soap and finish. She looked pretty, but she looked a bit tired as well.

"How's mine?" Ironhide asked her, going over to her.

She sighed as she melted into his embrace. "Tired." She said as he gently nuzzled her neck, "And hungry. Oh, Ironhide, I'm in for it tomorrow."

"What of tomorrow?" Ironhide asked.

"Elita's going to have words for me." She replied. "You can bet on it. No time or chance for them today, so it will be tomorrow, and will be uncomfortable."

Ironhide held her comfortingly, gently rubbing his thumb against her side.

"And Flareup." Chromia said, "She's going to speak with Flareup, and that's not going to be pretty business either. Flareup's gonna miserable about it, I know. You know." She sighed unhappily.

"It will be rough." Ironhide said sympathetically. "But you also know that Elita cares greatly for you. If someone is going to lay you or Flareup low, Elita is the one you would rather have do it than anybody else."

"Yeah." Chromia said slowly, seeing the truth in his words.

Ironhide waited what he deemed an appropriate amount of time and then leaned back a little. "You want dinner now?"

Chromia looked over at the table. "I'll make it while you two finish up that cannon." She said.

"Agreed." Ironhide said. He slipped her a kiss and then stepped away.

"Hello, MyAuri." Chromia said softly, regretting that her greeting was so delayed. Auri slid off her stool and went to her, giving her a cuddly hug.

"It's alright, Chromia." She told her, referring to everything that had happened that day.

Chromia slipped to her knees so she wasn't over Auri. "You sure?" she asked, searching her face.

Auri nodded. Chromia held her then, tucking her chin over her shoulder.

"Alright." Chromia said after a little bit. She gave Auri a little squeeze then let her go. "You hungry?"

Auri nodded.

"Okay." Chromia said, rising. Auri and Ironhide would finish up their work while she mixed their Energon. Then they'd drink it and perhaps talk a little, and then they'd go recharge. And she'd try to be better in the morning.

OoOoOoOoOoOoO

Morning came, Amy Sora wake up to warm sunlight in the window. She gasped, appalled that she'd overslept, and grabbed her phone to see why its alarm hadn't gone off.

There were several texts waiting for her on it.

"(1/3)Hi, this text is from Sunny… we hacked your phone the other day. In short, we set it so it would delay a couple hours before giving you a message. So you'd be" –"(2/3)late for everything. And it would be on silence, too. We did it yesterday morning about 2AM. We apologize. Bring it over asap, and we'll fix it. (We'd" – "(3/3)appreciate it if Ratchet didn't find out, though. Just come over, and we'll access it remotely like we did when we were stalking out your apartment). Okay?"

Amy reread the lengthy text twice then started looking at the other texts.

One from Sides. "Did Sunny text you?"

Another one from Sides. "Please let me know if Sunny texted you."

One from Sunny. "(1/2) Please let Sides know when you get my long text about our evil phone scheme so he'll stop fretting. I don't know why he's not listening to me right now. He"- "(2/2) should believe me; I don't lie to him."

Another one from Sides. "Nevermind."

Another from Sunny. "Sorry that we pestered you with texts."

Another from Sides. "Sorry we pestered you with texts."

No more new messages to be displayed.

Amy smiled. They were like children about this, these two. They were all worried, anxious to please now, tripping over their shiny metal feet to make things better.

Amy thought for a couple moments and then replied to Sunny. "Good morning, Sunny. Thank-you for letting me know. I'll come over as soon as I can."

Then she replied to Sides –even though he'd said nevermind. "Good morning, Sides. It's alright. :)"

Then she texted Auri. "The twins confessed to tampering with my phone. So, the alarm did not go off, so I will be late."

Then she ran her hands through her hair and went downstairs for breakfast. Ordinarily the shower would have come first, but as she'd overslept, her body thought that it was the hour for food.

She hurried through toast and fruit, checking her phone out of habit, and then she took her shower, relieved at having hot water and no shower pranks. Then she dried and wrapped her towel around herself before going to her bedroom to dress.

"Well." Said Chromia at the window. She was nonchalant.

"Dahhhhh!" Amy gasped, clutching her towel. She realized then that she'd forgotten to close the window after talking with Magnus last night. Bad idea. "What- wh-what are you doing here?" Amy spluttered.

"Auri told me about the twins' deal with your car… ie, that you don't have one, and since she's occupied with her office duties this morning, I thought I'd be your car for you."

"Oh…" Amy said, rather taken aback. This was entirely unexpected. In fact, it seemed almost uncharacteristic given how Chromia had acted towards her before. "Thank-you. I… I'd really appreciate that."

Chromia's smile didn't seem entirely eager, but it didn't make Amy uneasy. "You're welcome." Chromia said.

There was a pause. "Um…" Amy said awkwardly. "I just need to get dressed and such, and then I, uh, well, the twins… I want, need to visit the twins."

"No problem." Chromia said with a nod.

"Yeah, um, so-"

Chromia chuckled. "So you need some privacy."

"Exactly."

"You human femmes are kinda funny." Chromia commented conversationally as she turned away from the window.

Amy hurried over and pulled the blinds. "Well, we _are_ a different species." she said then she dressed quickly. "Okay. I just need to do my makeup now." She said, opening the blinds again.

Chromia turned and gave her a smile. "In that we're not so different." She said. "Gotta look pretty." She said with a wink. "Impress the other make, right?"

"Right." Amy said, though not entirely at ease. Chromia's boldness was a little intimidating. "Ah, can I ask you interview-type questions?"

"Sure. I don't have to answer them, though."

"No, of course not."

"That wasn't a question." Chromia said, "I was telling you. If I don't want to answer, I won't."

"Okay." Amy said, dropping her chin a little as she seen Auri do more than once. "I understand."

"What do you wish to ask today?" Chromia asked after a brief pause, and Amy was surprised how quickly Chromia's manner had changed from semi-belligerent to almost helpful. It was, Amy realized, because she'd copied Auri's submissive gesture. Talk their language. Respect them and their customs. That was what she needed to do in order to get them to get along with her.

"Well…" Amy said, and she was very conscious of how closely Chromia was watching her do her makeup, "I am curious about couple relationships. If it wouldn't be overstepping, I would like to ask about them a bit."

"As in?" Chromia asked, still watching intently.

"Um." The scrutiny was a little discomfiting. "Like, where and how did you meet your mate? What caught your attention first? Um… that… sort… of… thing…"

Chromia cocked her head. "Okay. But you should do couples' interviews with both mates present." She said, "Get both sides of the story. Ironhide's and mine are a rather different. No feelings at first sight on my end. Ironhide… he had fascination at first fight."

Amy paused, her mascara brush held midair. "Fight?"

"We were fighting Decepticons." Chromia said, "Not each other. Yet." She paused then looked annoyed. "Finish with that. The twins are fretting for some reason and bugging _me_ because I'm the transportation."

Amy swallowed and focused entirely on finishing her light makeup. "There." She said after a few moments. She put on her shoes and scooped up her purse.

"Meet in the street." Chromia said, moving away.

Amy closed the window. "Why am I so intimidated by her?" she whispered to herself. Then she went to face her ride.

Chromia opened the passenger door for her, and she got in. Chromia pulled away from the curb once the door was closed.

"So. What's on the agenda besides this visit to the twins?" Chromia asked.

"Nothing." Amy said unwillingly.

"Okay." Chromia seemed fine with that. "We can sprawl in a lounge and talk about life and love and such."

"I'd like that."

"You got it then." Chromia said.

Amy felt a certain amount of unease settle in her stomach when they entered Med-Bay, but the twins banished it quickly with their greetings.

"Good morning, Agent!" "Good-morning, Agent Sora!" "You weren't too mad about the phone, were you?" "We forgot about it yesterday. We're really sorry it skipped our processors and made you late today." "We didn't want that, but we couldn't figure out any way to solve it without bringing in outside help, and it was sort too late at night or too early in the morning to bother anybody." "And then we slept in too much to divert it this morning."

"Twins, twins, it's alright." Amy told them, "It's all right. I didn't have anything scheduled. I got some needed extra sleep and Chromia brought me over."

The twins paused, their attentions turning to Chromia. "BY the way, did you lose a bet or something?" Sunny asked.

"No." Chromia said, "I didn't lose anything. You will, however, lose a little dignity at my hands if you tease me about driving Sora around. Savvy?"

"Understood." Sunny said soberly.

"Good." Chromia said. "I'm stepping out into the courtyard a bit." She told Sora, "Let me know when you're ready to go."

"I will." Amy said, and Chromia left.

"She's still a little _hssssks_." Sunny noted, using a Cybertronian word.

"Yeah." Sides agreed ruefully. "Plus, if Chromia doesn't want to get teased, she won't put up with it."

"And she doesn't like Med-Bays."

"Who does, anyway?"

"Ahem?" Amy said.

"Pardon." Sunny said. He and Sides came and sat on the floor by Amy and talked with her for a little while, explaining their plot more thoroughly and getting into some of the details that had made their scam go so well.

"Phone's done." Said Sides after a bit. "It was a tough one to crack, just so you know."

"Thank-you." Amy said a little doubtfully.

"Hey." Sunny said. "Have fun with the escort. She'll give you a great time if you don't make her mad."

Sides slapped him upside the head.

"Ouch! What? I meant that… I meant it nicely."

"You, nice?"

"Yes."

"Hummm! That's rather novel."

"Chromia?" Amy called from the doorway, "I think the twins' attention span is done with me."

"Oooo..." Said Sides "Ow." said Sunny.

Chromia grinned. That was a good jab. "Alright." She said, sauntering back in. "We'll go hang out."

The twins called their farewells, and Amy wished them speedy recovery. Then she and Chromia headed out. Chromia drove several blocks then turned off to another street. Amy winced at how fast Chromia took the turn; it was rather sharp and sudden, not at all like Auri's careful and considerate turns.

"Mmm, sorry." Chromia said, slowing down a little late. "I forgot how you humans need slow turns."

"I-it's alright." Amy said, cautiously un-bracing herself.

"I actually rarely take passengers." Chromia added.

"Oh? Why not, if I may ask?"

"I really don't care for it. And it usually isn't necessary."

"Ah." Amy said thoughtfully. Then she winced as Chromia drove right past a stop sign without even slowing.

"And 'cause people don't like my driving." Chromia said, a bit of a smile in her tone. "Too aggressive."

Amy considered saying something about how running stop signs was against the law, but she doubted Chromia would take to well to it, so she just said "ah" again. And braced herself for the next stop sign.

And then next.

Amy gasped at that third one, though. A big truck was just stopping, but the suddenness of seeing it there startled her, and for a second she thought they were going to crash.

"Scrap." Chromia said as Ultra Magnus pulled in behind her and flashed his lights. She pulled over to the curb and stopped. Magnus transformed. "Hop out." Chromia told Amy, opening a door, and Amy slipped out quickly. Chromia transformed. "Hello." She greeted the massive mech lightly with her optics cast down and rested a hand on her hips.

"Don't give me that 'hello,'" Magnus said, "Was that the first stop sign you ran?"

"Yes." Chromia said, "No."

Magnus eyed her.

"Third." She stated. "It was the third consecutive."

He sighed.

"No one saw, and no one was endangered." Chromia pointed out, glancing at him briefly for the first time.

"That is not the point here. You broke the law."

"To no ill effect." She said in an exasperated tone.

He saw no point in arguing with her, so he took out his data-pad and began writing. "I am ticketing you."

"No, you're not." She said. She grabbed for the pad, but he moved it too quickly.

"Give me trouble, and you'll really get it." He said calmly. There was a cool blue staring contest. Chromia smirked. Ultra Magnus raised an optic-ridge ever so slightly then looked back to his data-pad.

"Ultra Magnus, please don't." Chromia said with a softer tone.

He glanced at her for barely a second.

"Please? I won't run anymore signs today, or lights either." She said with an almost coaxing tone.

"No." he continued writing on his data-pad

Chromia bit her lip.

"Ultra Magnus…" she said, making an uncomfortable movement with her hands. "Please, _please_ don't. I wasn't running signs to be smart-aft like Sunny does. And I wasn't running them recklessly like Outback."

Magnus glanced up from his writing. Name-dropping…? To buy him off?

"_Please_ just let me off with a warning, and I _will_ behave. I will respect that. I promise I will."

"You haven't in the past, why start now?" he asked in a challenging tone.

The femme looked away and clenched her fists in frustration. "I really, _really_ want out of this ticket."

He almost smiled. "I can tell that. Arcee is usually sniffling by this point in attempted negotiations, and Flareup would have brought out the teardrops."

Chromia gave him an unfriendly look. "Slanderer! Flareup's no crybaby."

"No, she is not. But she did try crying once to get out of a ticket, and it didn't work; I know her better than that." He paused, "I also know you better than you think I do."

"No, you don't. I want out of this ticket, Ultra Magnus. That is all. I just. Want. Out."

"It is not happening, femme." He said, going back to writing.

"Hell, frag, damn! Can't you be a little sympathetic-?! Yesterday was horrible-! Today is shaping up badly-! I don't need another stress on me!"

Magnus looked a little intrigued at this outburst.

"What?!" Chromia snapped, looking more upset.

"I will be rather impressed if you start crying."

"I _hate_ you." She snarled.

He raised an optic-ridge. "I never had your friendship anyway." He said calmly and continued writing.

Chromia stopped and stared at him. "Is this about _that_?" she asked after a moment.

"If you are referring to the nocitor, no." he said, "It is about law enforcement."

"Yet you knew exactly what I was referring to?"

He looked at her. "It is the only remotely personal thing between us."

"Look." Chromia said, "If I get this ticket,"

"And you will,"

"If I get this ticket, it will put me past the limit. I'll get in particular trouble, Prowl's office will get heavily involved, and Auri will find out all my previous and many offences."

"You really should have thought about this earlier."

"Will you have some compassion?! Has she ever given you that little look of abject disappointed betrayal?"

"I have never done anything to cause her to give me her 'little look of abject disappointed betrayal.'" He replied without looking at her.

Chromia looked she'd suddenly been shot in the midriff and slapped in the face. Then she turned away from him, angling herself away from Amy as well.

Manus looked up when she didn't reply. He saw how she'd turned and suddenly he looked uneasy. His words had cut her, he realized; he'd hurt her feelings without meaning to. "Chromia," he said.

She turned partway, and Amy saw that there were tears in her optics. Ultra Magnus paused when he saw the tears. He'd never she her cry except for once when Ironhide had been severely injured and lying in a medically induced stasis.

"Just give me glitchin' ticket and go the pit away." Chromia said in a thick tone, not meeting his optics.

"I did not mean to imply what I implied." He said gently, "I did not mean to imply anything."

Chromia pressed the palms of her hands against her optics for a moment then took them away. She looked at Magnus uncertainly.

"I apologize deeply, and I mean it." The mech said. "I respect your guardianship of Auri greatly, and I admire how you stick with such task that I would not be up to."

Chromia hesitated then nodded her head once. "Accepted," she said quietly.

After a few moments of looking at his data-pad, Magnus looked at Chromia again.

"I…" he started then paused. "I am still giving you this ticket." He said, "However, I will have your last ticket dropped so that this one will not put you over the limit. You will still face the penalty, but Auri won't find out about all your past offences."

Chromia gazed at him in wonder for several long seconds. "I… I thank you." She said softly as she looked away.

He nodded once. "There will be no getting out of the next one, however." He warned in a firmly but not harshly.

Chromia smiled a bit of a smile. "But after a certain amount of 'clean' time, they'll clear the recent record."

Magnus frowned slightly. That was right. There was ticket-forgiveness if a bot got a ticket but didn't get any more for a certain length of time.

"Thank-you." Chromia said again.

Magnus finished writing the ticket and gave it to her. "Be careful." He warned her.

"I will. You may bet on it." She said. Then she transformed and opened a door. "In you get, Sora." She said.

Amy went towards, glancing up at Magnus as she did so. The mech gave her a bit of a smile and touched his fingers to the edge of his helm in a polite gesture. They would talk later. Amy ducked her head then got in the waiting car.

"I guess that was interesting for you." Chromia said in a very dry tone once they were a block away from the scene of the argument.

Amy hesitated, pondering how to answer that. "I don't want to say anything to upset you." She said after a few moments. It seemed like the safest thing to say.

"Smart girl." Chromia said. "Just don't tell _anybody_ that I teared up, you hear me?"

"Yes, I do. I will not tell anyone."

"Good."

"STOP SIGN!" Amy yelled then shoved her hands against the dashboard as Chromia slammed hard on her brakes.

Chromia stayed there, engine idling, despite the fact that no one was on the other street.

"Thanks for calling that." Chromia said in a murmuring tone. "And sorry."

"It's fine." Amy said, rubbing her neck to make sure. Chromia still didn't pull forward. Amy looked around. "It there a problem? The way's clear."

"Part of the penalty for running a stop sign includes having to stay a full thirty seconds at each stop sign that you stop at for the following twenty-four hours." Chromia said. "It's surprising how long thirty seconds can seem."

"Isn't it a hassle when there's traffic?"

"Eh, more like an embarrassment," Chromia said as she pulled forward. "Everybody knows the penalty, so everybody knows you got caught running stop signs. It's completely effective with anybody who's got a higher rank. Nobot with rank wants to be publically punished; that's quite understandable. Others with lower rank… eh, it's not _as_ effective on them, but it still works very well."

"Interesting."

"Yeah." Chromia said, sighing as she stopped at the next sign. Then she groaned quietly, and Amy heard someone pull up behind them. Turning, Amy looked and saw a big black truck.

"Blocking traffic?" Ironhide asked, pulling up very close.

"Yeah." Chromia said.

"Best be careful." He said, inching forward a little more so that his bumper was touching her. "I've not been counting, but I think the number is getting up there."

"I know, Ironhide. Trust me."

"I do."

"Now miss me." She said, then gunned forward, the jolt making Amy gasp. The femme chuckled at leaving Ironhide then paused. "Sorry, I guess, that wasn't… I'm not being smooth ride."

Amy watched in a rearview mirror as Ironhide turned right. "It's… fine. Just as long as I don't get hurt." she said. Then she hid a smile. "Or carsick." She added; she'd heard that bots minded that.

Chromia stopped carefully as the sign. "That." She said, "That is a real motivator."

Amy ducked her head as she smiled.

"And you know it, uh-huh." Chromia said. She didn't seem to be mad, though. They came to where the lounge was after a few more blocks. "Finally." Chromia said. She drove into the lounge, let Amy out, and then transformed.

Amy watched her transform, and then she blinked when the femme finished with a little stretch and flirty pose. That was…

"Hey, mech." Chromia called.

That explained it. Ironhide had beaten them there. Amy started to look around the giant room for-

"Hello." Ultra Magnus said in a very unimpressed tone. He rose from lounging on one of the couches.

Amy looked from one bot to the other. And she felt suddenly very uncertain about where she was and who she was with and what was going on.

* * *

What was that? I'll answer next chapter. Hehe, poor Amy.

Visit my account on deviantArt, if you will, and check out my new digital works! I did one of Knockout lamenting the fact that his high-grade was gone (this is based off Captain Jack Sparrow from _Pirates of the Caribbean_).

And for those of you who like Flareup, I've done one of her that's one of my best works so far.

* * *

And to reviewer** WackyWillow**, (I'd send a PM, but yours is turned off), Thank-you for your lovely review! I liked it very much. As for Prowl, indeed, most fics have him as a horridly logical bot who always glitches out, and it's quite a shame because he is such a cool character. Lunar Mist writes the best fanfiction that I've ever read; she's one of the few who made it to my favorite authors list, as is The Starhorse. I found Lunar Mist through someone's page who faved this story, so you might like her as well. And yes, there will "BE something more," but it will be later and in the sequel. (I wasn't planning to do a sequel, but this one's gotten so long that I feel I need to break it in two to make it more manageable and accessible).


	81. Chapter 81, Chromia and Stories

Hi! Have an early update! I had this partially written when I posted the last chapter, so that helps, and I shirked my studies over the weekend a bit. (I need to stop doing that, but you all are so fun to write for!)

* * *

Chapter 81

**Chromia and Stories**

"Uh…" said Amy, feeling completely out of her league. "Can I ask…" she wasn't even sure what to ask.

Chromia eyed her questioningly, and Magnus politely waited for her to finish her sentence.

"I don't know." Amy said.

"You wanna know what sorta relationship and past Ultra Magnus and I have?" Chromia asked, smiling challengingly.

"Uh…" Amy wasn't altogether certain that that would be safe.

"Girl, you scare easy." Chromia said, chuckling. She picked Amy up with surprising care and gentleness and set her on the back of the couch where Magnus had been sitting. "Have a seat." She said, following her own words by sprawling against the armrest and putting a foot on the couch. "Ultra Magnus?"

The mech hesitated then took a seat.

"We haven't any relationship." Chromia said. "I was on guard duty when I met him. He was coming to see Prime, but Prime was busy, so nobody was allowed to bother him. Ultra Magnus didn't know this, so I told him." She paused to raise an optic-ridge at the mech. "I had just come in, so he didn't accept my words and kept coming back. I really got fed up with it and told him that if he came back again, I'd hit him with my nocitor… and that's a smallish weapon like a stun-gun, only it doesn't stun, it induces pain without damaging anything. Decepticons love using them…" she trailed off in thought for a moment. "Anyways, he came back, and he learned that I don't bluff. That is all there is between us."

Amy looked over at Magnus, and he nodded. Amy hesitated, though. "What about the…" she imitated Chromia's little stretch/pose thing slightly.

Chromia looked annoyed. "I thought Ironhide was here, not _Ultra Magnus_."

"Ohhhh…!" Amy said, looking very relieved.

Chromia rolled her optics. "Humans." She said.

"I believe Agent Sora is more understanding than most outsiders who have come in, though." Magnus said giving Amy a gentle look.

"I'm still not sold on humans, so shut it." Chromia said, looking at her fingertips.

Ultra Magnus opened his mouth to remind her that she shouldn't use that tone with a superior office and that it was rude to speak about humans in that way with Agent Sora there. He paused, though, then closed his mouth. Chromia knew both of those things, he realized. Why she still did them, he wasn't sure. Maybe it was to bait him into an argument? If so, it would be best to not reply. He directed his optics towards Amy. She gave him a smile; she wasn't offended.

There was a bit of an awkward silence then… an uncomfortable pause while bots and human wondered what to do next.

"So," Amy said, smoothing back part of her hair to hide some nervousness, "Yesterday afternoon, I got to sit around Prowl's office while he and Auri worked. And… we talked a bit," she paused, hoping this would go well.

"Did you?" said Ultra Magnus conversationally, "I'm sure that was interesting. What did you talk about?"

Amy smiled, delighted to find him so helpful with conversation. "We talked about a wide variety of things. What I… I liked best was, well, when Prowl and Auri shared what their very memories were."

"Prowl did?" Asked Chromia, glancing up at from her fingers curiously.

"Y-yes…?"

Chromia raised an optic-ridge then turned her attention back to her fingertips. Amy was too intimidated to ask why she was interested, so she gave Ultra Magnus a curious look.

"That's a bit different because Prowl generally keeps quiet about his past." Ultra Magnus explained. "Hopefully the memories were pleasant?"

Amy smiled. "Yeah. They were. And… ah… I…"

"Spit it out, woman." Chromia said, and Ultra Magnus clenched his jaws to keep from reprimanding her. He gave the femme a dark look, which she missed.

Amy swallowed, unnerved by Chromia's curtness and Magnus's dark look. Magnus gave her kind look then.

"What were you wondering?" he asked Amy.

"Why on earth are you so glitchin' solicitous?" Chromia demanded, looking at him hard.

"I'm not being any more solicitous than usual." Ultra Magnus said calmly. Chromia gave him an acid look.

"I was just wondering about your first memories." Amy said in one breath. Both bots looked at her. "If you didn't mind sharing."

Magnus paused for a second. "I don't mind." He said then looked at Chromia.

Chromia shrugged. "I'll think about it."

Magnus nodded. "First thing I really remember," he said, "Was my family's vast… ah, it was probably like what you would call a ballroom. My creators hosted dinner parties and dances in it, quite large ones. They were having a party that evening; everybody was polished and gleaming, and the femmes glittered with their jewels. I remember, there was a fountain centerpiece on the table gushing with Energon, and I thought it would be fun to play in. I was hiding under a small, low table, though, a little intimidated by the huge number of bots that were mingling. They were 'all' talking and sipping Energon and laughing, and some of the younger adults were dancing around the musicians. They were fun to watch, swaying and bouncing to the rhythm." He chuckled then, "One of the waiters put a dish of pastries on top of my low table, and as soon as he was gone, I popped out to filch some. They weren't sweet, but I loved them. I put both hands in, grabbed as many as I could, and then dropped back under my table to eat them. And that was when I meet Optimus Prime, but at that time, he wasn't a prime, and he wasn't called Optimus. He was a little sparkling, a bit younger than myself, and he was called Orion Pax." Magnus grinned then, one of his rare grins, "I offered him a pastry and he just looked at it, and then he opened up his tiny fist and looked at the candies in it. Then we sat and shared our goodies and watched the big bots until we got tired and fell into recharge." He smiled at the grin of delight that was on Amy's face.

"I love that." Amy said, making one last note.

Magnus smiled. "It was a good time. And I can say that I've know Prime since he was a sparkling. Not that he remembers it."

Amy chuckled. Then she sobered and looked over at Chromia. "Do we… get to hear you first memory?" she asked hesitantly. There was something mildly troubling about the expression on the femme's face. It was hard to read, but it made Amy feel a little uneasy.

"Yeah…" Chromia's tone was chilling, and she didn't look at Amy or Magnus. "I'd had hardly anything to eat all day, and I was whimpering and sniffling because my little middle ached from the lack of food."

Amy bit her lip, and Magnus looked unsettled.

Chromia went on in a quiet tone. "My half-sister and my step-sister were having some sort of whispered argument in the corner of our room, and then step-sis climbed out the window. Half-sis came over and tried to comfort me but ended up crying herself. When step-sis came back, she had…" Chromia's optics met Magnus's for a moment, "Two handfuls of packaged pastries. Half-sis stared at them in horror, but step-sis opened one and gave it to me to eat. Half-sis started to protest… 'It's wrong to steal' she whimpered because my father had been killed in an armed robbery. But step-sis grabbed her shoulders and shook her. 'I know it's wrong, you stuffy Autobot,' she said, 'but it's more wrong to starve a sparkling.'"

Amy didn't know what to say. There was a lump in her throat, anyway, so she couldn't have said anything. She felt a tear trickle down her cheek, and she brushed it away quickly, not wanting Chromia snap at her like she'd snapped at Auri yesterday. She looked over at Ultra Magnus… he was looking down, looking humbled.

"After that, step-sis climbed out the window every evening after our half-dinner." Chromia add quietly, "She made a little stockpile. Sometimes she and half-sis nibbled a little food from it, but usually they didn't; they were given lunch at the school, so they had a little more to eat in the middle of the day. When step-sis got sick, half-sis gave me food from the stockpile. My femme-creator might have known… I don't think she did, though. She worked all day and came home too tired to do anything but hug us and give us our rations and then fall asleep at the table. Step-sis would wake her after a little while, so she could get up and go to her bed for better sleep." Chromia stopped. "Don't either of you dare tell Auri. Or anybody."

Amy shook her head. "I won't tell anyone." She managed to whisper.

"Nor will I." Magnus said softly. "But Auri should know sometime."

"I know that." Chromia said the phrase without her usual flippant tone, "She's not ready yet, but I will tell her sometime."

Magnus nodded.

"Was…" Amy stopped then tried again. "Was your femme-creator… alone?"

Chromia shrugged. "Step-sis's father was bonded to her, but he was at the mines for months at a time, and they would barely pay him. He was a good mech, though, and he was always kind to us when he was able to visit. He was her third mate. Her first was half-sis's father, and he was killed in a mining accident. My father was her second. I was told they were both good mechs… my half-sister loved them. I never knew them." She shrugged ever so slightly.

The room filled with quiet as Amy silently wrestled with her emotions and Magnus kept his optics down. The mech had never thought about Chromia's past. He'd merely seen a harsh and rebellious tough-femme who sneered at things she didn't respect. He'd jumped to the conclusion that she was just a problem-bot with an attitude issue. He'd never known privation anything like she had, not by a long shot, had never had hardships like hers. He suddenly felt like he'd been disgustingly spoiled and cared for. He'd been born an heir, a somebody of the highest shine. And he still acted like it a lot of the time to some degree or another, he realized. No wonder Chromia treated him with the sneering resentment that she did.

He shifted and looked at her with new and humble optics. "Your story," he said quietly, "Has saddened me greatly. But…" he paused, "It was good for me to hear it. You have taught me… something I needed to be taught. And it explains a lot."

Chromia's half-smile of a smirk came back as she cocked her head. "Your story explained a lot, too."

Ultra Magnus looked uncertain. Was she mocking him? Had he (once again) insulted her somehow?

"I now know why you've acted so much like such a self-entitled aft around me." She gave him a flippant look. It wasn't especially convincing, though, and Ultra Magnus could see now that the manner was a front.

Ultra Magnus lowered his head. "I am sure I deserved that." He said honestly.

"Yeah." Chromia said, smiling as she tilted her head back. "You did." She lifted head back up then and looked at him with a new look. "But I don't begrudge you any longer for some reason."

He smiled. "And I suddenly understand better why you acted the ways you did."

Chromia chuckled. Then she sat up and turned to look to the doorway as Ironhide came in. "Hey, mech," she said. Ultra Magnus smiled.

"Hello," he said, coming over. He gave Ultra Magnus a curious look then leaned over Chromia and kissed her on the mouth. "You being decent to Magnus?" he asked after the kiss.

"Yeah," she said, "In fact, I'm even considering being friends with him."

Ironhide looked impressed. "I wouldn't say anything against that." He looked over at the other mech, "What did you do –or not do?"

"I… she said a few things that made me realize how she must perceive me and why she acts the way she does. And I acknowledged it."

"Vaguely put." Ironhide said, "But whatever it was, it will make our lives easier."

"Hopefully." Chromia said. Then she reached out and smacked Ironhide's behind. "Sit, join us. Agent Sora is collecting stories."

"What sort of stories?" Ironhide asked, pulling Chromia off the couch. He sat where she'd been and took her on his lap.

"First memories," Amy said, "But I'd like to know how you two met."

"Oh, well," Ironhide said, "I was part of Prime's team, and Magnus was one of the new transfer officers fresh from the academy. He got assigned to my patrol team, and that's how we met. Rather routine." He grinned at Magnus who was giving him sarcastic look.

"Ah," said Amy, trying to decide if Ironhide was serious.

Chromia swatted her mech's leg. "He's messing with you." She said to Amy.

"But that _is_ how I met Magnus," Ironhide said, trying to sound innocent, but his optics were twinkling too mischievously.

"I want to hear how you met Chromia, though." Amy said, shifting her notebook.

"Hold up." Said Chromia. "First memory, first."

Ironhide chuckled. "My first memory is of my grandfather sitting me down on the work-table in his gun-smithing shop. I could _finally_ touch all those things on the table that I'd been looking at. I was delighted to no end at the prospect of playing with the pieces of metal that he worked on. He gave me some to play with, and I wasn't allowed to touch anything else. I played for hours while he worked, and at the end of the day, he gave me my first play-cannon."

"No surprise that it had to do with cannons, eh, Sora?" Chromia said, smiling.

"Not really, I suppose." Amy said, "I find it interesting that it involved a gift. Auri's first memory involved a gift, too. Prowl's and Chromia's were about food, though, as was Magnus's." She saw Ironhide's arms tighten around Chromia ever so slightly when she mentioned the femme.

"When one is a sparkling," Ironhide said, "Food and toys are pretty much the highest priority things next to being cuddled. You can understand then, that they would be more memorable."

Amy nodded. "That makes sense." She said. "Now, do I get hear about when you and_ Chromia_ first met?"

"You do." Ironhide said. "But, I think I should start from when I first saw her. 'Cause I saw her a while before I met her."

"It was only a day." Chromia said.

"_Really?_"

"Yes, mech. One day. I've told you countless times."

Ironhide looked over at Amy. "It seemed a whole lot longer than that.

"Evidently." Said Amy, chuckling. "Let's hear it."

"It was evening, the planet wasn't Cybertron, and we bots were having a pretty heavy skirmish with a number of Decepticons. I'd say there were about one bot for every Con, but the Cons were fighting pretty fiercely so it seemed like there were more than that. The suns were dropping, and the whole landscape seemed to glow from their last rays. I was in hand-to-hand combat with a larger Con, and as I was finishing him off, I looked around for my next opponent."

"And he found me." Said Chromia with a mischievous smile.

"Best find ever." Ironhide said, grinning at her. "She was pretty dirty, but enough armor showed through the grime that I could tell she was as blue as a perfect sky. And could she fight! She had two Cons after her, but she had a blade in either hand, a knife for each one. She had all the moves of the best mechs on my team, but none of one them flowed the way she did. It was like dancing how she moved, but I only saw her for a couple seconds before another Con moved in on me. Once the Cons retreated and the skirmish ended, I looked around for her, but she'd already left, so I went off to clean up a little. I meant to go look for her, but one of the mechs who'd been scheduled for guard duty had gotten injured, and I was asked to take his place." He paused. "I guess it was only one day." He said to Chromia.

"I'm right again."

"Well. Next day I slept late and then had patrol, and then I was on perimeter watch until sundown. Once I got off, I went to take several reports to Optimus Prime. I headed to his office, a small building, and I saw the blue femme that I'd seen on the battlefield." He grinned. "I'd say my spark skipped a couple pulses. She'd been something on the battlefield, but closer up and all clean, she was a show-stopper. I approached, and she gave me this cold prickly look of animosity that said 'You get outta here before I kill yore aft.'"

"That's exactly what it meant, too." Chromia said, grinning reminiscently.

"I nodded politely, and said 'Good evening' then started to go past her."

Chromia smiled. "Then I said, 'No you don't.'"

"'Are you on guard detail?' I asked, 'I'm here to talk to Prime.' 'Yes.' She said haughtily, 'I am. And you'll have to wait if you want to talk to Prime. My commander is talking with him at present, and they will be a while.' So I said, 'I'll wait, thank-you.' She swept her optics over me very briefly then resumed her on-duty stance. It was clear that she did not want to talk with me, so I stood by and watched her surreptitiously while I made some notes on my data-pad."

"Go on," Chromia said, "We get to the fun part soon."

"I waited a while," Ironhide said, "And then Magnus came by. He'd stopped by…?"

"Twice."

"Twice before this, intending to see Prime. Chromia had sent him off both times, and she was getting fed up with him coming back. And, what did you say to him then?"

Chromia paused, "You've already heard this part," she said to Amy. "I told him that if he came back again and came within a certain distance of me, I'd take my nocitor and hit him with it."

"In a specific place." Ironhide said, "This caught my attention,"

"Yuh," Chromia rolled her optics,

"Because," Ironhide said, "Nobody talks to officers like that. I considered saying something about that, just to caution her a little, but she turned and cocked an optic-ridge at me then swung her hip just a little so I could see that she wore her gun a bit back on her leg. I nodded to her then wisely turned back to my data-pad."

"And after twenty minutes, somebody came back." Chromia said.

"I was _trying_ to do my duty." Magnus said with a shake of his head.

Chromia gave him a semi-sympathetic look. "'What?' I said when I saw him again, 'You think I was bluffing, mech.' And he very politely, 'No, I just," and see, he stepped towards me when he said that. If he'd held position, he wouldn't have crossed the line, and I wouldn't have zinged him. But as it was, he did, so I did, and I heard Ironhide say, 'Ooooh-uh…' as Magnus dropped to his knees."

"I was pretty taken aback." Ironhide said. "And then she turned looked at me like she was challenging me to say something so she could drop me, too."

"He kept shut, though." Chromia said, "So I turned back and told Magnus to… leave."

"Which I did." Magnus said. "I wanted no seconds."

"And then Ironhide said, 'Nice shot.' I turned and stared at him like he was completely weird. He grinned halfway and said, 'Officers, mostly afts, you know.'"

Magnus stared at Ironhide. "You started flirting with her after _that_?"

Ironhide shrugged a little, "I did,"

"But he didn't get far." Chromia told Magnus, "I said, 'Yeah. Aren't they? And I know one when I see one.' And looked him over, 'Don't talk to me.' I gave him the death-look when he said, 'Yes, ma'am.'"

"Then I shut up and played it safe for the next half hour." Ironhide said. He looked down at the femme in his arms. "The temperature always started to drop as soon as the suns went down, and after the second sun, which was much smaller, went down, the temps pretty much plummeted. Chromia wasn't used to the temperature changes, and I could tell that she was starting to shiver. Not just a little, but quite a bit."

"I started pacing to try and keep warm." Chromia remembered quietly. "Then he stepped forward and said, 'Ma'am, I'll take your watch for you.'"

Ironhide winced, "and she said, 'You can take hell.'"

"I'd never seen a mech give me such a tender or kind look as the one he gave me then. 'You're not warm enough here. You'll get sick.' He said gently, but I retorted that I would be fine and turned away from him. A few minutes later, I was on the verge of intercomming my commander to tell her that it was too cold for me out here. And then he touched my arm, and his fingers were so warm. 'Lean against me,' he said."

Magnus raised an optic-ridge, "And?"

"I said, 'l-l-lik-ke h-h-h-eh-ell-ll,' teeth chattering too much to be clear. He swore he won't put his hands on me, and I set my teeth, but he moved just a little bit closer, and I knew I'd have one side of me warm if I leaned on him. I didn't really want to interrupt my commander, so I nodded my head, and Ironhide led me over to the building. He put his back against the wall so he'd be a firm support, and he clasped his hands behind his back. Then I put my back against him, and he was deliciously warm."

"She was awfully cold." Ironhide said, cuddling her a little more at the thought of it. "If I hadn't sworn to keep me hands off her, I would have put arms around her and held her just to warm her."

Chromia chuckled softly, "I would have given you the nocitor treatment if you had. I had my fingers around it, ready to draw at a second's notice. Minute after minute passed, though, and he didn't try anything. I relaxed my guard and put away the nocitor and put my arms around myself for more warmth. Then I started to get drowsy and a little disoriented."

Ironhide smiled.

"Yeah," Chromia said. "I turned and cuddled against him, hiding my face against his warm chest armor. And then I fell asleep."

"I wanted _so_ badly to hold her, but I didn't." Ironhide said, "I just stood there against the wall and waited. Elita and Prime came out a little while later, and Elita gasped at the cold and shrank against Prime. The first thing she said was 'Cold-!' and the second was 'Chromia-' in an anxious tone. 'I got 'er' I said. She came over immediately, all worried about Chromia. The poor commander hadn't been warned about the temps, or she would have _never_ left Chromia on guard that long. I convinced her that Chromia was just fine and then offered to carry her back to their barracks. She agreed to this reluctantly, and Prime walked with us, keeping Elita close because _she_ was getting cold. Once we got to the femmes' barracks, and I put Chromia on her berth, I asked Elita what the femme's name was. 'Chromia.' She said, and that was the only word on my mind for the rest of the night."

"Aw," said Amy with a smile. "I like that. Thank-you for sharing the story."

"You are welcome." Ironhide said. "It's one of my fondest memories." He added. Then he turned as Auri came bouncing into the lounge.

"Hello, hello!" the femme-ling greeted cheerfully as she scampered over. She hopped up onto the couch and practically flopped onto Chromia. "I love yuh!" she said,

"You, too." Chromia said, but Auri was already up and bouncing onto the armrest of the couch to give Ironhide an odd sideways hug from her perch.

"And I love yah!"

"As do I," said Ironhide, "But you need to calm down before you get yourself hurt from too much bouncing."

"I'm perfec'y fine-!" Auri said, giggling as she flicked him lightly.

Chromia reached over and swiftly swatted Auri's thigh.

"Owp!" Auri yelped, flinching, and she lost her balance. She landed with a thump on the floor.

Chromia half grimaced and half smiled.

Auri picked herself and came back around to the front of the couch to rub her leg. "That wasn' nice." she reproached, keeping out of range.

"What wasn't nice was you being flippant towards Ironhide." Chromia said.

"Well, that swat wasn' necessary." Auri said with a pout.

Chromia eyed her. "Come here." She said, and Auri's wings lowered. Amy felt pretty bad for the little femme, as well as uncomfortable about being present.

Auri came over, and Chromia pulled her close then kissed the top of her helm. "I love you much." Chromia said, "I want you to grow up to be an excellent femme. This means I will not allow you to treat your guardians or elders with disrespect." She paused then went on slowly, "I… I am not a very good example of this, I know, but I also know that you understand how you should behave."

Auri nodded seriously then put her head against Chromia. "Y're a good example f' many things, Chromia." She said gently. Then she got up and took Ironhide's hand in her little hands and kissed it. She looked up into Ironhide's optics and gave him a loving smile then grinned when he smiled back at her. "I gotta hug Magnus now." She said, "'Fore he gets feelin' left out."

"Okay…" Ironhide said slowly as Chromia gave her an odd look. Auri bounced over and climbed onto Magnus's lap to hug him. Magnus hugged her but raised an optic at her guardians.

"Have you had any sweet Energon today by any chance?" Ironhide asked.

Auri turned to look at him, "Just a…" she trailed off as she realized something. Then she looked troubled. "More than I should'a had." She said, looking deflated. "I didn' mean to." She curled up against Magnus. "I didn' mean to…" she whimpered.

"Sh, don't cry." Magnus said kindly, cuddling her. "We believe you."

"Course we do." Chromia said gently, "Just how did it happen, though?"

Auri sniffed and then shifted to face her guardians. "I went over to the pub to remind Tracks about something, an' he an' M'rage were doing inventory. Tracks said, 'Ah! Just the bot we need. Have a sweet-grade, Aurilaze, so I don't have to deal with odd numbers.' An' it was straight sweet-grade. I only meant to drink a li'l' bit of it, but we started talking, an' I forgot."

Ironhide raised an optic-ridge. "Did you remind him as you intended to?" he asked.

Auri grinned. "Course I did. I wasn't gonna let him trick me. Prowl warned me about that. 'M thinkin' that' why Tracks looked rather annoyed when I reminded him 'bout what I had to remind him."

"Smart femme." Chromia said with approval.

Auri purred then cuddled against Magnus. "Yeah… tha's why Pr'l hired me…" she murmured.

Chromia coughed, and Ironhide pursed his lips.

"Moving on." Chromia said.

"We could talk about humility." Magnus said, chuckling at Ironhide.

"I doubt that would go well." Said Chromia, "Why don't you two go on and hit the target range?"

"Well… we were going to take Auri." Magnus said, looking at the recharging little femme in his arms.

"Hmm…? Auri murmured and shifted a little.

"Do you want to go shooting?" Magnus asked her.

She nodded drowsily but didn't open her optics.

Ironhide smiled fondly at her. "I think we'll just have to take her later."

"Very well." Magnus said, "I'll have two chances to kick your aft on the range." He got up, still holding Auri.

"You'll have two chances to get your aft kicked by me, you mean." Ironhide replied with a grin as Chromia and he got up.

"Oh, mechs," Chromia rolled optics as she sat back down.

Magnus gently settled Auri on the couch where he'd been sitting and then bade Chromia and Amy well.

"See you," Ironhide said. Then the mechs headed for the door and exited. Ironhide's words drifted back through the door, though "I think we should stop by and give Tracks a word…"

"They'd better." Chromia told. "Or I will. Nobody messes with my femme-ling and gets away with it." She paused and looked at Amy, "Right now my time is yours, though. You want to hear about how it was adapting to life on earth?"

"Sure…!" Amy said, delighted that Chromia was offering subjects. Chromia gave her that smile that she'd given her earlier, the one that hadn't seem quite right but didn't make her uneasy, then the femme proceeded to tell her about when she'd first come to earth and how different it had been, and how various things had been odd to her.

Chromia talked for quite a while, but then she stopped and didn't move. Amy looked up from her note-taking and saw Elita come over from the doorway.

"I will speak with you, Chromia." Elita said, halting near the couch.

"As you see," Chromia said, keeping her optics from Elita's, "I am presently at Agent Sora's service. She would not be deprived."

"I am certain she may spare you a short time." Elita said with a firm look.

"No." Chromia said.

Elita frowned. "'Mia, I did not come here to chastise you, but if you won't cooperate, I will have no choice."

"You always have a choice, Elita." Chromia said almost angrily, "You _always_ do." She said bitterly.

Elita bit her lip. "Get up and come with me." She said quietly.

Chromia looked furious, but she rose. Elita went over to the other side of the room, and Chromia followed. Elita hesitated then half sat against the back of a couch. She laced her fingers together, clasping her hands lightly in her lap, and looked down.

Chromia had braced herself, but now she looked uncertain. Elita's stance was not the usual one for a lecture, Chromia knew. She knew well the lecture stance; this half-sitting with lowered head meant something different.

"Chromia," Elita asked gently in Cybertronian. "You called off meeting last night, saying you didn't feel well, and today you're trying to use Agent Sora as a shield against me. What are you expecting from me that you display this sort of evasive behavior?"

Chromia shifted her feet and crossed her arms defensively. "The lecture I deserve, I think." She said with a hint of resentment.

"The lecture you deserve." Elita said, looking at Chromia with a speculative look. "You mean the one where I say how disappointed I am with your behavior, how you know better, and how you are supposed to be responsible and a good example. That one?"

"Well, yes." Chromia said then bit her lip angrily. Elita was toying with her, it seemed, dragging things out. "Get to the point, will you." Chromia growled, looking away.

Elita straightened and stood firmly on both feet. "That lecture would be superfluous, unnecessary, redundant." She said gently, "You know exactly what you should hear, Chromia, and you've been telling it to yourself over and over. There's no reason for me to subject you again to what you've been berating yourself with for the past day."

Chromia blinked. She wasn't going to get chewed up? She wasn't. She looked at Elita hesitantly. "Then… why did you want to talk to me?"

"Because," Elita said gently, "I need to know that you're alright, that there's not some big underlying issue that's tearing you up that provoked you to 'drown your sorrows.'"

Chromia smiled ruefully. "I'm fine. –Well, as fine as I can be. Something _did_ provoke me to 'drown my sorrows,' as you put it, but it was just a one-time incident that won't happen again."

"You sure?" Elita asked, searching Chromia's optics.

Chromia nodded. "I'm sure. We can talk about it later; it's not huge."

"Okay." Elita said, giving her a smile a friendship. "I'm glad."

"Me too…" Chromia said wincing. "In more than one way. Seriously, your tone yesterday did imply that I was going to get chewed up."

Elita ducked her head, "Well, yesterday I _did_ intend to chew you up, but then I realized that that wasn't what you needed."

"I'm glad you had time to think about it." Chromia said with chuckle. She put an arm around Elita and hugged her. "We should go back to Sora, or at least I should. I don't know what your plans are."

"I don't have plans at present." Elita said, and they began to walk back to where Amy was sitting and Auri was sleeping. "Are you warming up to Sora?" Elita asked.

"Don't ask me that." Chromia said reprovingly, swatting Elita's leg lightly.

Elita flicked her finger against Chromia's arm and smiled, pleased to know that Chromia was warming up to the woman.

"All is settled," Chromia said to Amy, as she sat back down on the couch.

"Good," Amy said carefully. Then she smiled shyly at Elita. "Are you joining us?" she asked.

"Indeed, I am." Elita said. She gently took Auri into her arms then sat when the femme-ling had been. "Aw, she's so warm and cuddly." Elita couldn't help but say in a loving tone.

Chromia smiled. "She is a snuggly sweet-spark." She said gently, knowing how much Elita longed for a little femme-ling of her own. She paused. "Well," she said, "I was telling Sora about how it was getting used to living on earth. I think you should take a turn sharing your experiences."

A lady-like bit of a grin touched Elita's face. "I doubt my stories will be as interesting as yours, O Chromia."

"Ah, come on, she needs something for comparison." Chromia said, and with that she convinced Elita to tell some of her stories.

Auri stirred after a little while, and Elita fell silent, looking to her with caring optics. Auri blinked her optics open, and then a perplexed look took over her face.

"Where…'s Magnus…?" she asked.

"He went shooting with Ironhide, Sparklet." Chromia said, smiling at the little confused look.

"Without me?" Auri said sitting up. Elita put a hand on her to steady her.

"You were in a complete recharge, Auri; you wouldn't have had a bit of fun. They said they'd take you later."

"Oh… okay." Auri said. She gave Elita a smile then and snuggled back against her. "Did Chromia tell you what Tracks did?"

"Mm, no she didn't."

Auri yawned and then told Elita of Tracks's misdeed of the day.

"Hide said they would stop by and give him some words, by the way." Chromia added.

"Well, good." Auri said. "I hope they give him some feet, too."

"What?" Elita asked, amused but confused.

Auri lifted her little foot and gave the air a firm kick. "Give him a kick in the after-plating."

Chromia sighed. "We're not supposed to encourage that kind of treatment of others." She said.

"Exactly." Elita said, knowing Chromia needed some support. Chromia was rather inclined to kick other bots in the nether parts when she thought it necessary. "We need to work to resolve as many issues as possible through discussion, not violence."

"Okay, yes, ma'am." Auri said patiently. "I won't wish kicks on Tracks."

"Good."

"But I'm won't be sorry if they do kick him."

Elita grimaced daintily.

Chromia smiled. "At she's honest."

* * *

And, special treat, I did a digital picture of Chromia leaning against Ironhide in the cold. :) It's on my deviantArt account: cairistona. deviantart art/ Lean-on-Me- 351501051

Review! X)


	82. Chapter 82, Dialects, Kisses, & Energon

Hello, lovelies! X) Have I mentioned lately how much I enjoy writing for and hearing from you all? You're an awesome bunch. *hugs*

* * *

Chapter 82

**Dialects, Kisses, and Energon**

Amy realized that she rather enjoyed having Elita with them. At first she'd been a little apprehensive of having the femme commander around; the femme's regality had made her appear just a little daunting. Now, though, that the femme had been with them for a while and relaxed her formal bearing a little, Amy felt comfortable with her. Elita had mainly kept to the side of the conversation, letting Chromia talk and tell stories, only occasionally adding a comment or a gentle laugh when suitable. She was never lofty or supercilious; her manner was kind and friendly. Amy could say that she like her. It helped, too, that Chromia and Auri clearly liked the femme. They had been talking a while now, and Auri was still cuddling on Elita's lap, clearly content to stay with her.

"May I ask what one of your hobbies it?" Amy ventured to ask Elita.

She realized then that Elita was somewhat shy of her. Elita smiled, but her optics were a little cautious, and she hesitated before speaking. "Humans tend to wonder at it as a hobby," she said gently, "But I enjoy languages and dialects. I study them, learn to read and recognize them, trace their origins… And I'm proficient in speaking a number of them."

"I can see how that would be a hobby." Amy said encouragingly. If Elita was shy of her, she wanted to be supportive and friendly. "I bet it's interesting. Are there many different dialects on Cybertron?"

Chromia smirked at what she thought a silly question, but Elita nodded graciously. "Indeed. There are many different ones, and countless regional nuances."

"Do… they all sound the same to humans?"

Elita paused. "I'm not sure, really. I've never experimented with that."

"Oh," Amy said, shifting positions, "Would you like to?" she asked, and she suddenly found herself the recipient of a genuinely warm and friendly smile from Chromia, the first she'd ever gotten. She suddenly felt like she'd won a wonderful victory. She'd won Chromia's approval! At least for now, anyway, in this area.

"I would love to." Elita said, her optics warmed, and Auri grinned.

"Here is what most of us speak around here on this base. It's referred to as Cybertronian Standard, or 'Cy-Stan' for short." Elita said, then clicked a brief sentence in the alien language.

"Okay." Amy said. Then Elita clicked the sentence again. Amy hesitated. "It sounded the same." She said slowly, feeling a little disappointed with herself.

"Good." Said Elita with a smile. "Because it was the same. I'll repeat it again, and then I'll repeat it in a different dialect."

Amy nodded that she was ready, and Elita clicked the sentence. After a pause, the femme clicked the sentence again, and Amy heard the tiniest bit of difference.

"It sounded a little, little bit different." She told Elita. "What dialect was it?"

Elita looked over at Chromia.

"Aerialbot." She said. "They have a tendency to shorten their _hrrrs_."

Elita nodded turned to Amy. "Chromia's good at recognizing certain dialects although she doesn't speak them."

"It was useful for surviving." Chromia explained with a shrug, "Know where someone came from, and you know better how they'll act and how they'll want you to act."

"Street smart." Amy said.

"Exactly." Chromia said, seeming pleased with the comment.

Elita tried a few other dialects on Amy, and she found that the human could tell there was a difference about half the time when she repeated the same sentence, but never when she used different sentences.

"I'm pretty sure it cause they're just sounds without meaning." Chromia said.

"Probably," Elita said, but she wasn't disappointed. She clicked her first sentence again in the first dialect, and then she repeated in another one. Chromia stiffened ever so slightly; Amy didn't notice Chromia's reaction, but she definitely heard the difference in the clicks.

"That one was rather different." She said,

"That one was Decepticon." Chromia said, giving Elita dry a look. She didn't like hearing Con dialects.

"Ooh." Said Amy. "You can speak Decepticon dialects, too."

"Indeed I can." Elita said, suddenly looked guarded again.

"So, do you deal with intercepted communications?"

Elita paused, "You're not cleared for that sort of intel."

"I understand." Amy said, nodding.

"Hmm…" Elita said thoughtfully. She clicked in another dialect.

Amy paused. "Is that one Decepticon, too?" she asked.

"Yes." Elita said, looking impressed. Another clicked sentence.

Amy hesitated longer on this one, but then she guessed. "Autobot?"

Elita actually grinned as she nodded. "Yes." She clicked another sentence. Amy guessed Decepticon, and she was right. Elita's optics twinkled, and she clicked another.

"Oooh!" Auri exclaimed, sitting up, "That's th' di'lect my old guardian used t-…" she trailed off.

Amy swallowed and looked sideways at Elita then Chromia then Elita again. That had sounded like Decepticon to her untrained ears.

Auri's head and door-wings lowered, and she put her arms around herself. Elita paused then gently pulled the femme-ling back against her chest, cuddling her again.

"It's alright." Elita murmured gently as tears started to fill Auri's optics.

Auri whimpered softly and shifted to hide her face against Elita. Elita put her cheek against Auri's helm and gently rubbed her thumb against Auri's back as she held her. Chromia shifted, her optics on Auri with concern. Elita looked up at her and twisted her lips a little, looking regretful.

Chromia paused then crawled over so she was next to Elita, able to put her hand on Auri's arm. "Sparklet, was upsetting you?" she asked gently, but Auri's only answer was a muffled sob. The blue femme looked frustrated then forced her expression to soften. "Why did hearing the dialect make you cry, spark? Did he hurt you?"

"No-!" Auri protested angrily, as she choked back another sob. She sat up and hiccupped. "H-he never hurt me, and never w-would any-m-more than Ironhide w-would!" there was no mistaking her indignation as such an accusation.

Chromia backed off a little. "I apologize. I meant no insult, little one." She said softly. "I just need to know why you're so upset."

Auri sniffled and rubbed her optics then pulled herself together slightly. "'M upset 'cause ev-rey one will h-hate me if they f-find out that I was guardianed by D-De-s-sep-ti-c-con…" she barely managed to get the words out, and then she broke into tears again and hid her face against Elita.

"That's not true." Elita said gently as she cradled Auri's trembling little form against herself. "Everyone knows that you're a good little Autobot."

"I've been called a Consymp more than once-!"

Chromia looked mad. "Who called you a Consymp?" she demanded in a tone that made Amy as well as Auri cringe.

"Now's not the time, 'Mia." Elita said firmly but gently.

Chromia looked away, biting her lip. "I didn't mean to snap at you, Auri." She said quietly. Auri could hardly answer, though.

Elita could tell Auri was getting more and more upset the longer she thought about it. "Listen," Elita said, but Auri kept crying against her. "Aurion." Elita made her sit up and put a finger under her chin to make her look. "Listen."

Auri sniffled, and her body still shook, but she gave Elita her attention.

"I will need to tell Prime, and Chromia may wish to tell Ironhide, but none of us, including Agent Sora, will tell anybody that your old guardian was a Decepticon. It will be kept secret and confidential. We will not tell. Understood?"

Auri sniffled again, but more calmly, and she nodded her head. "Uh-huh," she murmured as Elita let her put her head down and lean against her again.

"Who called you a Consymp?" Chromia asked again, her tone level.

"I'm not going to tell you." Auri said quietly. She paused. "I'll tell Elita, though."

Amy darted a nervous look at the femme-guardian then wanted to take cover. Chromia looked like an enraged statue riveted to the couch. Her optics were drilling into Elita. Amy shifted her eyes towards Elita and saw that the commander had her optics down.

"Why is this?" Elita asked quietly. Chromia didn't move but kept her vicious optics on Elita.

Auri whimpered softly. "'Cause she'll fly off the handle at whomever I say, and I just don't like when she's s-so mad."

Elita pursed her lips and still kept her optics down.

The absolute fury faded from Chromia's optics, and she lowered them. She went back to her end of the couch and sat with her head against her drawn-up knees.

"Have you explained this to Chromia?" Elita asked softly. Auri shook her head. "You should talk to her about it." Elita said, stroking Auri's back tenderly. "Respectfully, explain that it upsets you when she gets into a fury. Help her understand that you still and always love her, but that her rage is scary to you." Elita paused. "Can you do that?"

Auri nodded then picked her head up to look at Chromia. Elita gave her shoulder an encouraging rub.

"I… I love you, Chromia." Auri said in a little voice then looked down, "B-but when you get mad, it just scares me. I know you wouldn't ever hurt me, but it upsets me when you are so angry. I o-only wanted to tell Elita b-b'cause she wouldn't e-explode."

Chromia nodded, and it was a rather dejected nod. "I understand." She said in a regretful tone. "I will work on keeping my temper better." She promised.

"Thank-you," Auri said softly then put her head back against Elita.

Elita rubbed her head gently. After a moment she looked over at Amy then down at Auri again. "Would you like to speak Praxian dialect for Agent Sora?"

"I don't know Praxian dialect." Came the muffled answer. "I never heard it. Everybody got killed before I could remember or talk."

"I'm sorry." Elita said quickly. "I should have thought of that."

"Iss okay."

Elita sighed then looked over at Chromia. The blue femme gave her a sympathetic but slightly jealous look before turning her optics downwards. Elita paused but decided to let it be.

"Most door-wingers originate from a city called Praxus." Elita explained to Amy. "Praxian dialect is what is commonly spoken among them. I can read it, but all my attempts at learning to speak it have been unsuccessful. Praxians are 'prewired' in sense for the dialect; thus, non-Praxians struggle to pick up its pronunciations."

"Interesting." Amy commented thoughtfully as she finished her note on it.

"Hey, look!" Ironhide called, coming in with Prime. "I traded Magnus for Prime. Good deal, huh?"

"I'll say." Elita said, giving her mate an affectionate smile as the two mechs approached.

"What did you really do?" Auri asked, looking concerned.

"Dislocated his shoulder and left him with Ratchet." Ironhide said, looking less pleased. "He'll be fine." He added before Auri could start worrying. He pulled Chromia up off the couch and kissed her hungrily and long. "Mmm-mmnh…" Auri counted eight seconds.

"Miss me?" Chromia asked with a smile when he finished the kiss.

"Yeah," He said.

"Liar." Chromia slapped him lightly. "You didn't even think about me once."

"I've got rights, silence rights." He said. He picked her up and sat down on the couch, settling her on his lap.

Auri climbed off Elita's lap and smiled up at Prime.

"You won't see anything like that from Prime, MyAuri." Chromia said.

"I've seen them smooching before." Auri said, lifting her chin.

Prime sighed as Elita slipped her hand into his. "The elite class believes that affection should be kept polite in public, Little One." He said gently. "As Elita and I are from that class, there are expectations that we are held to. I do not agree with them entirely, nor do I like them, but they are what I must conform to when not among my closest friends."

"I think," said Ironhide, "I _think_ we can trust Miss Amy to keep a secret. Am I right?" he asked, raising an optic-ridge at the woman.

Amy nodded. "Yes." She said. "I can keep a secret."

"So, have at it." Chromia said with feral grin.

Prime, Amy could tell, was not entirely comfortable about showing affection for Elita in a human's presence, but he stooped over Elita after just second and kissed her on the mouth. Elita wrapped her arms around his neck and kissed him back. Auri counted four seconds. Then Prime straightened, bringing Elita up, and he put his arms around her as his optics smiled into her.

Elita hesitated then gave him another kiss (just a quick one to Auri's disappointment). "Sit?" she asked. Prime nodded then gently scooped her up.

"Hmm…" Said Auri when everyone was sitting. Ironhide had Chromia on his lap, of course; Auri was used to that. Prime had surprised her, though, by sitting with Elita on his lap. _That_ she hadn't seen before. "I'm the only femme who hasn't kissed someone here yet."

Chromia chuckled. "Your time will come eventually."

"Eventually!" Auri exclaimed, "I'll kiss the next mech who comes through those doors!"

"Bet you won't,"

"Bet I will!"

"You're on!"

"Deal." Auri said before Ironhide could open his mouth, and struck Chromia's proffered hand.

"You shouldn't have done that." Ironhide said heavily.

"Loser cleans the floor in the back room of Ironhide's weapon-smithy." Chromia said.

Auri wrinkled her nose. They had been procrastinating on cleaning that floor for about three weeks now for a reason.

She sighed then lay down between the two couples as they took up a conversation with Amy. She rested her little helm against Prime's leg, and she stuck her feet against Ironhide's leg. She half-listened to the conversation for a couple minutes, but then she started thinking about her bet. Her chances of winning were good. All the older mechs would let her give them a peck on the cheek because she was young enough to be their sparkling. The younger mechs would gladly let her give them a quick little smooch because she was almost old enough to date them. Some bots didn't like her much… Red Alert, Outback, Gears, and Warpath… she wouldn't want to kiss them anyway. She started calculating the chances of them coming in. Red Alert, she knew, wouldn't come in; he was on duty. Outback generally stayed away from the city; the chance of him coming was 9%. Gears was in the brig for some reason. Zero chance of him coming.

"Who do we have here?" Chromia said with anticipation as the door opened.

Auri popped up. Who was it?

She gasped when Prowl came in.

Of all the mechs! Auri's door-wings shot up in, and her optics widened in dismay. She hadn't thought of him! She didn't look at anybody, but quickly hopped off the couch and scampered over to her commanding officer with trepidation. The thought of kissing him made her feeling slightly light-headed.

"G-greetings, Prowl. M-may I kiss you?"

Prowl's door-wings twitched up. "I would say not." He said, raising an optic-ridge.

"Please?" Auri asked coaxingly, but not too coaxingly. "Just a quick little kiss-"

"No." Prowl said firmly. "You work directly under me in my office, and I am your commanding officer. It would not be appropriate."

"I kissed you when you were off duty and Flare and I were playing Truth or Dare." Auri pointed out earnestly.

"I was in recharge and unable to object." Prowl said, still firm.

"This could be just-"

"Aurion, no. You are not kissing me."

"It's not smoochy kiss. It would just be like the ones I give Sunny 'n' Sides and Bee."

"What does 'no' mean?" Prowl asked.

"But, Prowl, I-"

"You will answer me and tell me what no means." Prowl said sternly.

"But, I bet with Chr…" she started to say, but Prowl's wings signaled that she was in trouble now. They lowered sharply and pinned back ever so slightly.

"Hold out your hand." He ordered.

Auri's door-wings lowered forlornly, but she did as told, putting out her hand, palm up. Prowl took her hand by the fingertips as he took his stun-gun from its place. Then he brought the butt of stun-gun down smartly on her palm. Her wings flicked up a little when she winced, but she didn't make a sound.

Prowl released her fingertips and put the stun-gun away. He looked at her less sternly now, but he still spoke in a firm tone. "You will listen to me when I tell you no, Auri." He told her.

"Yes, sir." Auri said softly, looking down at her hand. She gave the little scuff-mark a cautious rub with her thumb. Prowl thought he was going to melt on the spot; his spark was melting... Stop it, spark…

"A word of the wise," he added gently, "You should never make bets against Chromia unless you are Ironhide."

Auri looked up at him then and smiled a bit wistfully. "They tried to tell me not to, but I spoke too quickly."

Prowl opened his mouth to answer, but someone coming up behind him caused him to stop and turn quickly.

Bumblebee grinned disarmingly and put his hands up in a gesture of harmlessness.

"Hello, Bee." Prowl greeted him, giving him a hint of a smile. Bee nodded to him, and then Auri was there.

"May I kiss you, Bee?" she asked. If she couldn't kiss the first mech, maybe she could kiss the second and maybe it would count a little. Maybe Chromia would help her clean if she sort of met the condition of the bet.

Bee looked surprised then pleased. He nodded, his optics twinkling at this unexpected treat, and then he leaned down a little, offering his cheek.

Prowl didn't move, but his optics narrowed ever so slightly.

Auri went up on tip-toes, placing her fingertips lightly on Bee's shoulder to steady herself. Prowl's wings flattened a tiny bit before he stopped then.

Auri's lips brushed Bee's cheek quickly but softly, and Prowl's mouth stiffened at the sight of it. Prowl's whole frame was stiff actually.

[Is it my birthday and I forgot?] Bee asked, using sign language.

Auri giggled and gave him a hug. "Naw. I just had a kiss to give away, and Prowl wouldn't take it."

"Aw, Prowl." Bee said in disbelief.

Prowl didn't move. Jealousy didn't compute with him. Or… did it? Was he…?

Auri wondered at this strange stillness. Maybe he'd changed his mind but didn't want to say so? She peeked at Prowl from her place against Bee's cozy side. "I still have another kiss," she offered, her voice timid. She really didn't want another rap on the hand. Those hurt.

Prowl shifted his door-wings up just a fraction then paused. His optics lowered a little, and but then he looked up and they met hers.

"Just do not bet against Chromia again, understood?" he said quietly.

Auri nodded. Bee gave her a nudge, and she slipped away from the golden door-winger to the black and white one. She paused, as did he.

Then he bowed a little, ducking his head a tiny bit. Auri rose up on her toes, and Prowl was very aware of how sweet her little fingertips felt against his upper arm. Her little lips were as silky soft against his cheek as they'd looked against Bee's, only so much more delightful, and he could feel the warmth of her face so near his.

And then it was over. Prowl blinked. A little voice in his spark whispered softly, _more please? _He hushed it, reminding it that it would be too dangerous. Everyone who he'd ever cared for had been hurt by Decepticons. Auri alone was unscathed, and he didn't want anything to happen to her. If only his lips could…

No.

He could never kiss her. At least, not as long as he feared the Cons taking her away from him, and the chance was high that they would if he did.

"What are you two doing here?" Auri was asking. They were heading over to the couches.

"Ratchet ordered me to take a break." Prowl said, trying to focus.

"I came for a kiss." Bee said, teasing, making Auri giggle. He scooped her up and sat her down on the couch in the middle then climbed up to sit on her left. "And to hang out with whomever I found here." He added.

Prowl sat on Auri's right and took out a data-pad. He wasn't sure what was on it, really, and he was having a hard time getting the words to make sense.

Someone said something to him.

"Pardon?" he asked. He suddenly realized that his data-pad was _upside-down_.

Chromia raised an optic-ridge. "I said, 'Thanks a lot for spoiling my winning streak, Prowler.'"

Prowl paused. "According to my calculations, this recent loss will hardly impact your odds." He said.

"Oh, we have odds on Chromia, do we?" Ironhide asked, chuckling, and Prime looked curious.

"Yes." Prowl said, wondering how he could turn his data-pad right-side up without anyone noticing.

"This sounds interesting." Elita said, smiling at her friend.

"Tell all, Prowl." Chromia said, rather flattered to find that Prowl had calculated her odds of winning bets.

"Well," Prowl said, "On average, mechs who make bets with you lose 95% of the time. Femmes fare slightly better, only losing 91% of the time. For mechs, about 94% of the penalties tend to be moderately harsh. For femmes, only 19% of the penalties are moderately harsh. The average penalty is relatively fair. Elita generally only has a 72-78% chance of losing, and her penalties are mild 81% of the time. Ironhide has a 47 to 51% chance of losing, and his penalties range from nearly non-existent to severe."

This made Ironhide chuckle.

Prowl went on. "There is an 89% chance that Chromia will accompany or assist Ironhide with his penalty if it is a task, and there is a 99% chance that their activities will result in inter-_tai_ning conversation." he finished. Chromia fixed a death-look on him.

Bee cut short a snicker and smirked; Prowl hadn't planned to say "enter_taining_." Inter_fa_-

"Have you calculated the chances on the twins' betting with Chromia?" Prime asked smoothly, shooting Bee a swift look that sobered him.

"The twins bet against Chromia once, and then they never bet with her again." Prowl said promptly. "As far as I know."

Prime chuckled softly at that, and Elita smiled as she ducked her head.

Chromia grinned. "It gave Ratchet a tiny bit of hope that someday they'd learn to mind him. But, it hasn't happened yet."

Ironhide chuckled this time and had some comment about Ratchet, but Auri was only half paying attention. She was hungry. After all, it was lunch time.

"Are we lunching here?" she asked.

Chromia gave her a firm look. "You just interrupted Elita."

Auri's door-wings swooped down. "I apologize," she said, "I wasn't paying attention because I was _so_ hungry."

Chromia gave her a dry look. "You don't even know the meaning of '_so_ hungry,' Little One." She said. "But, yes, we are lunching here. In fact, we can lunch now." She flicked a glance at the black and white door-winger on the couch as she rose, "Prowl, lend me a hand, and we'll get Energon for everybody."

Prowl rose with a guarded look. _Why did she single me out?_ He wanted to know. He would, he supposed, know soon enough. He followed the femme to the back of the room where there was a door to a storage room. Energon, being slightly dangerous to humans, had to be specially stored, so the Bots kept it stored out of the main part of the lounge.

Chromia entered first, then Prowl. The door fell shut behind them. Then, without warning, Chromia shoved him facedown onto the small counter in the room and brought her knee up hard, slamming it into the more vulnerable area where the leg armor of his left thigh met his after-plating.

He gasped, his wings flicking up as he winced. That area was still sore from Ratchet's shots and the fight with the twins.

Ironhide's voice called from the other room, "Everything alright?" Chromia let him up off the counter then.

She went and stuck her head into the main room. "Just fine, just some clumsiness on Prowl's part." She called back lightly. Prowl took this opportunity to rub a bit of the sting away from his posterior, but his hands were in a polite location when Chromia turned back.

"That was not uncalled for." Prowl said in a low voice, "But it was unnecessary. I covered my near slip well, and Agent Sora does not suspect at thing."

"It was a warning shot, Prowler." Chromia said as she got some Energon cubes out and set them on the counter. "Don't you ever even start to say that sort of thing again."

"Yes, ma'am." Prowl said, straightening the cubes. "Besides, you said 'tell all,' and I merely followed your command until I realized what it entailed."

"'_Merely followed_'? Prowl! Are you that much of an automaton?"

"No." Prowl said, shifting a cube. "No, I am not. I was just not paying close enough attention."

"Well, next time, pay attention. 'Cause I won't take kindly to you nearly sharing the statistics of my intimate life a second time."

"I will pay more attention next time." Prowl said, watching as she added a little 'spice' to one of the cubes and swirled it in.

"Y'd better. And that was rather gutter-minded of you."

"Gutter minded-? Chromia-! _I_ am not one of those bots whose mind constantly drops into the gutter."

The femme turned, and by the look on her face, Prowl had the feeling that he should have kept his mouth shut.

"I didn't mean to im-im-imply th-that you-"

"But you did imply it," Chromia said, approaching him with a chilling expression.

"I didn't mean to," Prowl said, backing up.

"Out the backdoor." Chromia ordered quietly.

"Chromia-"

"Out."

Prowl swallowed and backed away to the back door, keeping his optics on Chromia as she followed him. He felt the door behind him and found the doorknob. Twisting it, he opened the door and backed out into the alley.

Chromia came out and shut the door quietly as Prowl contemplated running. There was a small chance that he could run around the building and dash in the front door before she caught him, and Ironhide or Elita could stop her from hurting him. But then what would he say?

He hesitated.

Chromia turned on him, grabbed him, and slammed him backwards against the building. He grunted in pain when his door-wings hit the concrete wall.

"You listen." Chromia said.

The pain receptors in his door-wings screamed at him as she pressed the heels of her hands into his shoulders. "L-iss-en-ing-" he gasped out.

Chromia eased the pressure a little. "I had no one for the longest time." She said, her tone quiet but fierce, "Nobody. At. All. And then, then I had something _even worse_. Can you conceptualize what's worse than having no one?"

Prowl nodded even though he wasn't sure.

"It was _hell_." Chromia said, her optics burning, "And now I have Ironhide. He. Is. Everything. I. ever. Wanted. And needed. And he will _never_ hurt me. Ever. Can you try to understand just a little how much joy he has brought into my life?"

Prowl shuttered his optics and lowered his head. He brought to mind the gnawing, starving loneliness that had nearly killed him in Decepticon solitary confinement. Then he added the sadistic brutality of the prison guards. It nearly made him sick. He quickly banished it and thought of his favorite picnic with Auri. Then he saw Chromia with new optics. "Yes," he whispered.

"I'm crazy about Ironhide," she said quietly, "I have more joy for him than you can comprehend. And I'm not from the class of elites that hides emotion. Maybe we _are_ inappropriate sometimes, but I'd rather be that than hide my love from him." She suddenly seemed to realize that she was hurting his wings and stopped pressing them into the wall.

Prowl sighed softly in relief and gave Chromia a nod. "I understand now." He said gently.

Chromia gave him a half smile. "Good." She said then paused. "Let's get those Energons."

Prowl nodded. "Yes, ma'am."

They went back in and Chromia quickly finished up mixing the Energon. Chromia stacked and balanced four cubes on one arm easily, leaving three for Prowl to carry. Prowl glanced at Chromia then picked up the cubes carefully in both hands, cautiously balancing the third cube.

Chromia chuckled and held the door for him then walked past him with confident ease.

"Energon for Prime," Chromia said, taking one cube and offering it to Prime.

"Thank-you most graciously." Prime said, taking it.

Prowl had his hands full and wondered who his cubes were for and how he was going to distribute them without dropping them. And the third cube was starting to slip to the side a little. He sidestepped and raised an elbow to keep it from falling, his opposite wing rising to balance him.

"Elita, for you." Chromia said,

"My thanks," Elita said, the motioned towards Prowl with her head.

Chromia smiled as she caught sight of Prowl and his uneasy look. "Hold still, Prowlie, I'll help you, just a minute." She said. Prowl did not appreciate her calling him "Prowlie," but he decided that he'd better not pick a quarrel with her at the moment. He stood still.

"Ironhide," Chromia gave him a cube. He smiled in thanks and gave her a wink. Chromia smiled then turned to Amy. "Are you getting something delivered?" she asked.

"I'm actually not hungry at present," Amy said, "Because of the late breakfast. I'll get something a little later."

Chromia thought about this for a moment. "Okay." She said. She gave the fourth cube to Bee then went over to where Prowl was close to squirming.

"You clearly never worked in a restaurant." She said, fond bemusement in her tone.

"Ngh." Said Prowl, frustrated with the cubes. Chromia smiled, took pity on him, and took the troubling third cube from him.

"Can you handle that now?" she asked. He nodded. She went and sat back down on Ironhide, and Prowl went over and gave one of the cubes to Auri.

"Thank-you." Auri said, smiling at him before ducking her head to sip the energy.

"You are welcome." Prowl said. "Chromia did all the mixing, though."

"Hey, someone had to carry them in." Chromia said, grinning at him.

"It felt more like juggling." Prowl said deliberately then took a sip of his Energon as Chromia chuckled. The others were smiling or amused at his one-liner, and he was content.

Ultra Magnus came in a few moments later.

"Magnus!" Auri chirped as Elita slipped off Prime's lap.

"Run kiss him!" Chromia teased.

"Chromiiiaaaah...!" Auri protested, blushing a little.

Ultra Magnus came over and smiled when he saw Auri and her two couch-companions. "I see we have a couch of door-wingers." He said. He looked over at Ironhide, "You just need to round up Bluestreak and Smokescreen, and you'll have the complete set."

"We'd be just a little crowded," Auri said, looking at the small couch she was on.

"Praxians like snuggling, though," Bee pointed out, "So we'd be fine."

"Prowl wouldn't." Auri said.

Prowl thought he wouldn't mind a cozy couch if Auri was the one he was next to. Stop it, Prowl, he told himself.

Ultra Magnus pulled a chair over and sat, joining the group.

"Would like an Energon?" Chromia asked Magnus in an offhand, semi-friendly manner.

Magnus paused. "Ah, yes, thank-you." He said, so she put her Energon aside and rose to go get one for him. Elita watching, looking amazed.

"Did you make friends with her?" the femme-commander asked in a quiet tone of awe once Chromia was in the other room.

"I realized that I needed to respect and be patient with her." Magnus said humbly. "And that makes a world of difference."

Chromia was back the next moment. She gave handed him the cube with no ceremony and shrugged at his thanks, but he knew that they were on good terms.

He started to take a drink, but then he saw that Amy had nothing. "Are you not lunching, Agent Sora?" he asked.

Amy smiled at the kind courteousness of his tone. "I will later. I had a late breakfast, so I'm not hungry at the moment."

He thought about this for a moment then nodded and took a sip from his cube.

Amy watched Auri. The little femme didn't seem to be _so_ hungry anymore. In fact, she almost didn't seem hungry at all. Amy paused. "Are you full already?" she asked.

"Nn.." Auri said, "Not rrrreally… Door-wingers are kind of different about energy consumption."

Ironhide chuckled at the perplexed look on Amy's face. "You'll have to explain that one a little, MyAuri."

"We're…" she trailed off and looked thoughtful. "I actually don't know."

Prowl half-smiled. "Our tanks, 'tummies,' are smallish." He explained. "We need roughly the same amount of fuel that non-door-wingers our size need, but we need it at a slower rate. When we intake Energon, we intake it slowly, or, like Auri did, gulp it down then have to wait to finish it. Also, our door-wings are solar, absorbing energy from the sun, so we do not need as much Energon if we spend time outdoors."

"Ooo, now that's cool." Amy said, much impressed.

"Don't you wish you were solar-powered?" Bee teased her.

She laughed. "Maybe I wish my car was," she said, her eyes twinkling, "But I think I'd miss out tasting my food."

"I think sunshine tastes good." Prowl said, earning a strange look from Magnus and a perplexed one from Amy. "Not on my tongue," he said, looking down, wishing he'd kept quiet. "It gives my wings a good feeling." He explained.

"_I_ know what you mean." Auri said, and Bee nodded.

"That makes sense now." Magnus said understandingly, and Prowl recovered from the look that he'd given him.

"The door-wingers are a complicated but delightful little bunch." Chromia said, giving the three an unusually gentle look.

"Oh…" Elita said suddenly, realizing something. "Prowl, _you _can speak the Praxian dialect for us."

"Pardon?" Prowl asked,

Elita explained in brief how she had been speaking various dialects for Amy. "She could tell Autobot dialects from Con ones if I spoke the same sentence. I'm curious to see how she finds the Praxian dialect."

"Ah." Said Prowl slowly as he looked down. He hadn't spoken the Praxian dialect since Bee had lost his natural voice.

[Go on] Bee encouraged him gently after a moment. Bee understand how he felt about it.

Prowl paused. "Wh-at should I say?" he asked.

Elita clicked a sentence in standard Cybertonian.

Prowl lowered his head a little then repeated the words gently in Praxian dialect.

Auri's optics widened, and her mouth made a little o-shape.

"That's the prettiest dialect-" she gasped softly when Prowl had finished speaking.

Prowl lifted his optics and looked at her hesitantly.

"I never heard it before," Auri said softly, looking down with a sad little expression on her face. "They were killed before…" she trailed off and blinked. She felt tears welling up in her optics again. She didn't want to cry again that day, but it made her spark ache when she thought of how she didn't even know how to speak her parents' own language.

"I am sorry." Prowl said quietly after a moment. Nobody else could say anything. Prowl looked at the data-pad in his hands. There was the upside-down text of one of the great epic poems of the door-wingers. It was in Praxian, naturally. Auri would not be able to read it or properly recite it. He looked over at the little femme. "Aurion," he said slowly, "I will speak Praxian dialect to you whenever we do not need to speak Cy-Stan or English."

"Really?" Auri's head came up, and her voice sounded almost breathless.

Prowl nodded. "Really." He said, "And you will learn to speak it."

Auri gasped, "Oh-! Prowl!" She dove at him and hugged him tightly. "You're wonderful!" she cried.

He returned her hug gently then nudged her back. "It will be challenging since you've not heard or spoken it before."

"Oh, that's alright." Auri said eagerly as she sat back. She quickly dried her optics. "I want to learn it more than anything."

Prowl nodded, his optics soft. "I am sure you do."

Auri paused and thought about it some more. She was so delighted! She squealed happily and kicked her feet like an excited sparkling. Bee laughed, pleased for her and enjoying her happiness. It made him happy when others were happy. She grinned at him.

"You're the sweetest, Bee." She said impulsively, giving him a hug, "Never jealous about others' gifts."

Prowl felt an odd twinge of jealousy then. Stop it, Prowl, he told himself. You have no claim on her. No claim. Logic tore apart his jealousy and melted it. And he was glad to have it gone.

"I'm between the sweetest door-winger and the wonderfullest door winger." Auri said happily.

"I believe that is grammatically incorrect." Prowl said, working on being reasonable.

Auri paused and analyzed the words she'd used. "Most wonderful." She said, "That's what I should have said."

He nodded.

"Most wonderful." She repeated the phrase only to commit the correct usage to memory, but hearing the words again made Prowl quite happy.

* * *

How about that kissy fluff?!

Review! Check out deviantArt... like on facebook, etc. *hugs*


	83. Chapter 83, Issues

Hello! My darling readers! X)

Special thanks to **Alathea2** for contributing a first memory for Amy Sora as well as the idea for Ultra Magnus's favor. :)

* * *

Chapter 83

**Issues**

"Well," said Ultra Magnus, "Considering those who are gathered here, I daresay I probably missed out on some interesting things."

Prowl choked on his Energon momentarily then nodded.

"Chromia had some pretty fascinating stories to tell." Amy said. "And I learned a little about different Cybertronian dialects, and how the odds fall when betting against Chromia."

"You didn't bet against her, did you?" Magnus looked ready to be alarmed.

"OH, no." Amy said with a smile, "I didn't. And I don't think I ever will."

"You wanna bet on that?" Chromia asked, lowering her optic-shutters as she teased.

Amy grinned. "Aaah, I don't know." She said playfully, "What are the odds for humans who bet against Chromia, Prowl?"

Prowl paused. "No data." He said, "Chromia rarely interacts with humans and has never bet with any."

"She was teasing." Chromia said, giving him a mildly unfriendly look.

"I did not mean to provoke," He said firmly. He'd stuck his pede in his mouth enough for one day, but he was done getting taken to task so roughly for it. "You know I miss many jokes."

Chromia eyed him and knew that it was true. "Oh, okay." She said, "What are we going to do with you, though?"

"I do have _some_ sense of humor," Prowl said pointed out, "And I do tease sometimes."

"That is true." Amy said, wanting to help the door-winger out a little. "He teased me yesterday."

"You teased a human?" Chromia asked, "I'm impressed. What did you tease?"

Prowl looked mildly uncomfortable. "I said that it was her turn to tell about her first memory since Auri and I had done so. She was not expecting it at all and got flustered."

Chromia chuckled. "Especially not expecting it from _you_."

Prowl shook his head. "Few ever expect humor from me." He said.

"But most like it." Auri said, looking over at him with a little grin.

"Not the twins." Prowl said, looking at his Energon cube. Auri quirked her wings. Prowl was wrong, and he didn't know it. The twins loved it when he engaged in a little humor. True, they acted put out, but that's because they wanted to encourage it.

"I'm curious now, Miss Amy." Ironhide said, "What was your first memory?"

Amy smiled and ducked her head, suddenly feeling shy with seven set of blue optics on her. "It was the first time I rode a horse by myself." She said.

"Horse." Chromia said musingly, and Prime looked especially interested.

"It has to be story," Ironhide said, tucking his chin and giving her a prodding look, and Prowl gave her a slight nod.

"Yeah, yeah," Auri said enthusiastically, "We told whole stories. You must as well."

"Okay, okay." Amy said, laughing at how serious they were about it. "I was about five years old, which about the average age for humans to have their first memories. The horse was fair-sized one, a little over fifteen hands tall. That's, um, five feet. So, I didn't even come up to his belly and had to stand on a stepstool to brush him. Once I was on his back, my legs pretty much just stuck straight out to the side because they were too short to bend around the saddle."

Chromia chuckled here, and then Elita's optics twinkled.

Amy paused. She found herself feeling shy sharing such a personal story, and she was suddenly surprised at how vulnerable she felt, even feeling a bit sensitive to the bots' reactions. Was this how they felt when she asked them to share their stories? Was this why Elita had hesitated before sharing her hobby?

"They've probably just pulled up some Google images," Ironhide explained, dropping a rebuking look on the two femmes. Elita looked pensive then, but Chromia didn't; she tossed her head.

"We did, and we were laughing because they were cute." She said, "And we can pull up Google images and pay attention to a speaker at the same time." She added somewhat defensively, "So, we weren't being disrespectful."

Amy paused. If Chromia was getting defensive about it, that probably meant someone had misunderstand her before and been hard on her about it. Amy had figured that out about her. "I didn't think you were being disrespectful." She said, hoping to reassure the femme that she wasn't being judged.

Chromia seemed unsure about how to take this, even a little suspicious. "'Kay." She said after a moment. "Go on?"

Amy nodded. "The horse's person and my mom were in the area, keeping an eye on things, but the horse got startled by… something, and he shied, just took a little sidestep. It was pretty tame, but I really didn't have any way to stay on, so I went plop into the sand."

"oh!" Auri's exclamation turned Amy's attention to her. The little femme's wings had flicked up, and a look of concern was on her face.

Amy smiled at her before looking down again. "The sand was soft where I fell, so I wasn't hurt. I was scared and shaken up, but not hurt. Once my mom confirmed that I wasn't hurt, she knelt in front of me and told me that she really wanted me to get back on and ride some more. She gently explained that he hadn't meant for me to fall off and that he was a good horse because he's stopped and stood still once he'd realized that I'd started to lose my balance." Amy paused and smiled. "She said that if I kept trying and didn't give up, I would eventually learn how to ride well enough that a move like that wouldn't upset me."

"Did you get back on?" Prowl asked. Amy looked up and, upon seeing the intensity in his look, was almost surprised at how interested he was in her story.

She nodded. "I did. I remember looking over at the horse, and his big brown eyes were so gentle, almost sad, and I decided that I did want to learn to ride. My mom put me back up on the saddle, and the rest of the ride went smoothly. I really learned how to ride later, but that day I learned about perseverance and respect… Not to give up on what matters to me, to respect those beautiful, powerful creatures, and to not fear them, despite how much they could hurt me if they wanted to, because I learned that they -at least this one- did not want to hurt me."

There was a silence when she finished speaking, and after a couple moments of it, she peeked at the bots. They looked thoughtful, as if they were mulling over her story each in their own ways. Little did she know that they were drawing parallels between it and her dealings with them.

Ironhide gave her a smile. "Thank-you for sharing your story." He said with a nod. There was a new respectfulness in his tone and demeanor. Amy smiled back at him and nodded courteously, but she felt a sense of delight welling up in her at his manner. The big black mech had always addressed her nicely, but she'd never had the feeling that he respected her as a person. She'd gotten the standard respectful treatment, but not the genuine respect that he'd just given her now. Had such a simple story made such a difference?

She looked over at Prime.

"Yes," he said with slight dip of his head, "Thank-you." He paused then. "Might I ask a related question?"

"Certainly," Amy nodded, surprised at the hesitancy in the tone that he'd used; he sounded as if he half-expected her to say 'no' and turn him down roughly with rebuke.

"Why is it that so many young girls have such great fondness for the equine species?"

Amy blinked. That was the question the leader of the Autobots had for her? She nearly laughed in surprise, but she bit it back as she suddenly she remembered Magnus's concern that she'd laugh at him. She didn't want Prime to think she was laughing at him. She pursed her lips. "I'm… not entirely sure about that." She said, buying time while she quickly thought about it. She paused. "For me personally, though, I loved them because they were so beautiful and there was this sort of… synergy about being around them. And they were like friends, too… without the, um, social drama. And communication was simple. If the horse and I disagreed, we worked it out physically. One mare I rode once didn't like having the saddle cinched quickly, and she let me know right away, nipped me hard enough to leave a bruise. I didn't like getting nipped, so I let her know, gave her a smack. And then we eased into the saddling more gently after that."

"I would think so. Getting bitten by a creature ten times your weight doesn't sound all that fun." Chromia said, raising an optic-ridge.

"We had to learn to respect each other." Amy said, "I had to respect the horse, but the horse had to respect me as well. And things went well as long as we had that straight."

"Did you regard your interest in horses as a phase?" Prowl asked.

"Ah," Amy paused, wondering why she was suddenly getting all these questions. It was a little intimidating getting questioned like this. "I did not. I don't now, either. I still love them, but I don't have much time for them with my career."

"Did your _par_ents regard it as a phase?" Elita asked, and from the way she said it, Amy somehow got the feeling that Elita had been told at some point in her youth that she'd been in a phase.

"No, they didn't. They encouraged me in it." Amy said. Then she smiled sympathetically and added, "But I got told I was in a phase about other things."

"Like what?" Chromia wanted to know.

"Ah… uh… black nail polish." She said with a wince, "Certain styles of clothes. Cute boys who sat in the next row at school. Wanting a Ford Mustang when I got old enough to drive." she paused. "I never grew out of that last one, though. I still want a Ford Mustang."

Magnus smirked then, but the smirk was quickly banished.

"Um… I also went through a phase where I didn't like any of my clothes and wanted all new ones." Amy shook her head. "That one wasn't encouraged."

"I'd say not." Chromia said with a look of disgust.

"You… aren't from the upper classes then?" Elita asked hesitantly.

Amy shook her head. "No. Both my parents worked pretty hard, and we couldn't do anything extravagant besides horseback riding lessons. I had a college fund, though, plus grant money, and that and a part-time job got me through college. I'm still not as 'well-off' as I'd like to be, but I can't complain about where I am now. I'm a whole lot better off than lots of people in the world. I'm pretty fortunate."

"Mm, you got a boyfriend?" Chromia wanted to know,

"No, I'm not in any significant relationship." Amy squirmed just a little. This was something her grandmother bugged her about from time to time.

"Do you have any siblings?" Auri asked.

"I have a younger sister and brother."

"Twins?" Prowl asked.

"No." Amy said with sympathetic grin. "They're not twins. They're three years apart, and my sister is the older of the two."

"Is that considered close in age?" Magnus asked.

Amy answered that it hadn't seemed so when they were younger, but now it seemed very close. Then the bots asked more questions. And more questions, varying questions.

Amy kept answering them, but after a bit she started to get rather uncomfortable. The bots weren't trying to cause her discomfort, but she felt like she was starting to be interrogated. And then some of the subjects started to get touchy, down-right touchy.

Chromia wanted to know why human workers were mistreated so badly and forced to work in horrible conditions to make nice things for rich people. Prime didn't help that line of questioning when he expressed troubled curiosity in child-labor. Magnus was puzzled as to why laws were bent to immigrants' hurt. Prowl, with a frown, asked why some races displayed such cruelty towards other races. Bee's question about "babies that get killed" was the straw that broke the camel's back, though.

Amy felt her throat close up and her face grow pale. The bots suddenly grew uneasily quiet as they realized that they'd dragged her down an uncomfortable path and all of them were at fault.

"Bee…" Ironhide said softly, "We aren't supposed to ask about that." He looked guilty, though, for he knew that he'd asked a couple tactless questions himself.

Prime looked troubled as he suddenly realized how many sensitive subjects they'd asked about. "Agent Sora, I apol-"

"It's okay." Amy cut him off in her nervousness without meaning to. "I- I- need to go get lunch."

Elita gently handed her down off the down, and she quickly headed for the door. The bots looked at each other in uncomfortable silence, wondering if someone should offer to give her a ride, but they all felt she probably wanted to get away from them.

Once Amy was outside, she stopped and took a deep breath and let it out slowly. In truth, she wasn't hungry at all. Her stomach felt completely knotted up, and she felt cold and hot at the same time. Cocking her head towards the door, she listened carefully. Silence.

She swallowed and crept away. She wasn't sure what she would do now. As she walked down the sidewalk, though, she decided that she should probably go into a restaurant. That way it wouldn't be so obvious that she'd used lunch as an excuse to run away from the questioning. The bots were rather sensitive about lies.

Sighing, she brushed her hair away from her forehead and looked around. None of the bots had followed her, and there was a sandwich shop of some sort on the next block.

The walk eased some of the tension that had built up in her over the bots' unintentional interrogation, and she felt slightly better by the time she entered the small restaurant.

There was nobody in the place at all, except for a dark-haired fellow sprawling in a booth, playing a small windpipe of all things. He stopped playing and hopped up when he saw her, and the smile her flashed her was easy and disarming.

"Y're a wee bit late for lunch; I'm afraid y'll just have t' be waitin' for dinner." He said,

Amy's smiled faltered somewhat. "Then… why's the sign say 'Open'?" she asked slowly.

He pursed his lips as he cocked his head. "Ó. I'll just have to serve y' a sandwich then." He said, walking lightly behind the counter.

Amy blinked then smiled in bemusement.

"So," he said, leaning his elbows on the counter, "What c'n Patrick Sean O'Brady Sullivan do for y' today?"

Amy blinked. "Is that-?" she broke off. That would be a rude thing to ask, she thought.

"Is that my real name, y' mean?" He said. Amy nodded as her face heated. He looked down thoughtfully at the counter. "Well, noo." he admitted. "It's actually 'Jack Sparrow.'"

Amy couldn't help but laugh. It was obvious that he was fibbing now. Jack Sparrow was a movie character.

"Okay, _Jack_." She said. She was completely at ease with him now. "Should I trust you to tell me what your best sandwich is?"

He nodded. "You can always trust me." He said sincerely, and his (evidently fake) accent was gone. "You want our best sandwich, I'll make you our best sandwich."

Amy smiled. "I'd appreciate that." She said. She started to turn away to wait while he prepared her food, but he had other plans.

"Are you getting more trouble from bots?" he asked over his shoulder.

"What?" she stared at him.

"You're the liaison the twins were targeting, right?"

"Um. Yes. How… did… you know?"

"You are in a small town now, miss," he said, pointing with a bread knife.

"Oh…" she realized that now. Of course. This was an island, a limited population. New spread…

"So, my question?" he reminded her.

"Ah, well, the twins and I are on good terms now. We're fine."

He looked over, making eye contact. "I didn't ask 'twins'; I asked 'bots.'" He said, his tone growing serious.

Amy swallowed. She suddenly found that she couldn't fib. And she couldn't talk for that matter, either.

"Oooh…" he said softly.

Amy pressed her lips together, determined not to lose it in front of this stranger.

"It's like that, is it?" he asked in a kind tone.

She shook her head. "They didn't mean…" she paused as her throat tightened, "I mean, they weren't trying to…"

"It's okay." He said gently. He got a glass and poured some water in it then brought it over to the counter for her. "Here,"

"Thanks," Amy whispered. She sipped, and the water was cool and good. It helped. She gave him a bit of a smile. He smiled gently in return then turned back to making the sandwich.

Amy took another sip of water then sighed.

"Were they teasing?" he asked.

Amy shook her head. "No," she said softly. "They…" she sighed. "It started out that I was just asking questions, and they were talking, telling stories. And then they got me to tell a story. I… I don't know how it happened, but after I finished my story, they started asking me questions. A-And more questions. They started out okay, but then it turned into an interrogation about s-social issues, and it just got too- h-hard." She looked down.

"So…" he set a plate down on the counter. "You can dish it, but you can't take it." He said slowly.

Amy looked at the sandwich. It looked amazing, perfect. "I… I don't know." She said, not looking at him. "I've asked all sorts of questions. Maybe they didn't like them. But… But I never asked questions about such sensitive topics."

"You know what's sensitive to a Cybertronian then?" he asked.

Amy looked up. He had a good point. "I… don't." she said slowly.

"Exactly." His smile was kind. "It's tricky getting to know them."

"Yes." Amy looked down at the sandwich again. "This looks like a really amazing sandwich." She said.

He smiled. "You can bet it is." He said. "Did you tell the bots they were stepping on your toes?"

Amy shook her head. "I just choked up, and they realized that they'd gone too far. Prime started to apologize, but I said I had to go get lunch."

"Prime?"

Amy nodded. "Prime. And Elita, Chromia… Ironhide. M- mm, a couple others."

"So, you just ran off?"

Amy nodded. "Yeah… I really couldn't think of anything else to do."

"You should go back."

"What? No!"

"They've had time to think about it, discuss it, and figure it out. They're probably fretting now, feeling horrible, and worrying about what to do for you."

Amy looked down at the sandwich again.

"Go back." He said gently but firmly, "They may look like a bunch of tough metal bodies, but inside are tender hearts. They'll be concerned about your feelings and afraid that you'll be too upset with them."

"You sure?"

"I am, and you need to be." He said. "I'll put your sandwich in paper for you." he took the plate. Amy looked down at the counter. She could hear the crinkle of paper as he wrapped the sandwich up. He was back in a moment with a paper bag. "There." He said, "On the house. And good luck." He meant it.

Amy smiled. "Thank-you." She said.

He nodded. "Go on."

She took the bag and went out. She thought about "Jack"'s words and came to the lounge before she realized she'd walked that far. She braced herself then slipped into the lounge, hoping to go unnoticed. And she did go unnoticed for a time. She stood there, hesitantly, by the door and took in the bots.

Several of the bots had moved. Ironhide was now sitting on the door-wingers' couch, cradling Bee in his arms and murmuring to him in comforting tones. And Auri had moved. She was on Prime's lap, crumpled against him, and he had a hand on her back. Elita was looking pensive, as was Prowl, who was standing. Chromia had her arms crossed, and she was looking down. Magnus was standing uneasily.

Prowl saw Amy. His wings shifted a little, and then it seemed that his whole body braced for some sort of impact. Amy found herself the center attention then, mostly. Chromia didn't look at her, and the two youngest door-wingers had their heads down, so they didn't see Prowl's reaction. The other bots were looking at her, though.

Elita looked to Prime, questioning him. He paused for a moment then nodded.

Amy watched as Elita rose and came over to her. Elita knelt down so she didn't tower over Amy. "We are sorry that we caused you discomfort." She said softly, "We didn't _mean_ to, and we wouldn't have asked so many questions if we'd realized that they would upset you."

"It's alright." Amy said gently, but her fingers were wrapped so tightly around the bag that held her sandwich that her knuckles were turning white. She was so afraid, but she wasn't sure exactly what she was afraid of.

"Will you come back and sit with us?"

Amy nodded. "Of course I will." She said, forcing herself to put the bots first. While she wanted to say 'no' and run away, she could tell that they were troubled about what they'd done to her. Staying and rejoining them would be the only way to comfort them and convince them that it was alright.

A few minutes later, she was back on the back of the couch again, Prowl and Magnus had sat back down, and Prime was giving Auri a gentle nudge. "Look," he said, "Your Agent Sora is back."

Auri sniffed. "Yeah, for how _long_ before someone _else_ runs her off? _Huh_?" She muttered, her tone less than respectful.

Prime swiftly made her sit up and put a finger under her chin so she had to look at him. "I know you are displeased, but that is no excuse for this further rudeness." He spoke so sternly that Amy winced, "Getting snippy and sarcastic is unacceptable behavior. We apologized, and she accepted it. It is time to work forwards now, not to stew about the past."

Auri's wings lowered as a little tremor ran through them. "Yes, sir." She whispered.

"I am not asking you to repress or deny your feelings." Prime explained, his tone softening. "I am telling you to deal with them in a mature manner. At this time, we need to work for the good of all who are in this room. This involves not holding grudges. If you wish to speak about it later, you may do so. For now, put others first."

"Yes, sir." She said softly, nodding, and Prime eased off. The little femme looked over at Amy. "Welcome back." She said, "Did you get a good lunch?"

"Thank-you," Amy said, "I think so. The man said that this was the best sandwich at the restaurant."

"Good." Auri said then looked up at Prime for affirmation. He nodded and let her snuggled back against him, putting a reassuring hand on her back. He would reprimand her when necessary, but he would never reject her.

Amy smiled at her then at Prime, and then she turned her attention to Bee and Ironhide. Bee's body language said quite plainly that he was very upset with himself that he'd caused her to run. She'd never seen a body look so defeated.

"Bumblebee," Amy called gently. The bot's yellow head ducked farther down against Ironhide's chest, as if someone that color could hide against black. "Please don't feel badly about your question. I'm not upset about it. I was just shocked." She paused. "It's alright."

"Really…?" he asked in the smallest voice imaginable.

"Really, truly." Amy said. He turned a little so he could regard her with heart-breakingly sad optics.

"I didn't mean to cause a problem."

"I know you didn't." Amy said.

"Thank-you." He said softly in a slightly static voice, and she realized that he'd used his own voice instead of a recording.

There was some quiet, a thoughtful quiet, not an uncomfortable one. Then Amy sighed.

"You bots think we people are a horrible lot." She said.

They all looked at her, mostly in surprise.

"No more than we think Cybertronians are a horrible lot." Prowl said meaningfully. Amy looked at him. Was he implying… that…

"You mean…?" Amy wasn't sure how to phrase it.

"Did you actually think that my stepsister's father had a nice time in the mines?" Chromia asked.

"Um…" Amy paused, taken aback.

"You have a stepsister?" Auri asked.

Chromia realized her blunder; she hadn't wanted Auri to know about her family. "Had." She said with a dismissive shrug then moved on. "Amy-gal, we asked about these things because we're bothered by them on our planet. We're far more advanced intellectually and technologically than you guys, but we still have the same problems." She paused. "I mean it. I knew young-lings who were much, much younger than Auri who had to go work in hard jobs. My stepfather died in the mines because of the conditions there. Lower class bots who came from different regions weren't treated nicely when they came, and I know nine different derogatory names for Praxians. No, ten."

"I know twice that many." Prowl said quietly, his wings lowering somewhat. Bee nodded unhappily.

Auri counted on her fingers. She paused. "Is 'Priff-raff' derogatory?" she asked hesitantly, and both Bee and Prowl winced.

"Yes." Prime said heavily.

Why would other bots pick on door-wingers, Amy wondered. They weren't that different, were they? "Why?" she asked.

"That is our question." Prowl said. "Partially, it is because we have wings but no flight. There is, shall we say, a certain degree of animosity between flyers and non-flyers. The flyers scorn Praxians because we have wings but no flight. The ground-rollers look askance at us because we're ground-rollers but have wings."

Auri looked up from her fingers. "What about 'wingsluh'?" she asked.

Prowl frowned. "Derogatory for a femme door-winger." He said.

Auri looked mad. "I knew that wing-ding was a creep."

"Wing-ding." Said Chromia, "Isn't derogatory, but it's not flattering either. And it's considered extra insulting if you call a ground-roller a wing-ding."

"I've been insulted more times than I thought was." Auri said, looking down. She'd also been insulting more times than she'd meant to be.

"Lovely, eh?" Chromia said. "Let's talk about something else."

"And what shall that be?" Amy asked, taking out her sandwich. She was ready for it.

"What song we're going to make Elita sing on karaoke."

Elita choked delicately on her Energon then lowered her cube and raised an optic-ridge at her sky blue friend. "That is not happening."

"You don't want to sing Madonna's 'Girl Gone Wild'?" Chromia asked with an innocent tone and a challenging grin.

"No, thank-you." Elita said, smiling. "I would gladly describe a young femme's coming-out party, though."

"Snobby." Chromia said, "Where I came from, a young femme would just swipe some spray-paint and do graffiti to announce that she was 'all grown up.' And then we'd all meet up somewhere and go to a pub with music and dance. What _are_ you _smirking_ about, Prime?"

"I was thinking about karaoke." He said deliberately. "That is all. Elita, I believe it is your turn to relate accounts of coming-out parties."

Elita began to tell about the coming-out party that an upper class femme would have, and Chromia smirked contentedly. She knew Prime had no interest in karaoke. Elita would have been the only thing to put that look on his face.

Amy ate with one hand and took notes with the other while Elita talked. Elita offered to wait until she was done eating, but Amy said it was fine.

And it was fine until a slice of tomato decided to drop onto her pale green blouse.

"Oaw," She exclaimed when she saw the orangey would-be stain on her shirt. "No!"

"Sounds like Sunny with a scratch in his finish." Chromia chuckled.

Amy blushed a little at that. "'M not _that_ bad." She protested. "I do need to go change, though, so I can put this to soak. I really don't want it to stain."

"No problem," Chromia said, getting up and handing Amy down from the couch.

"I'll drive her." Magnus said, rising. The blue femme eyed him slightly suspiciously and looked mildly resentful. She was Amy's car for the day. The look she gave him was a challenging one. How dare he be so presumptuous and step on her feet? "I meant it as favor," he said, turning his hands palm up and lowering his chin. "So you could stay. I did not mean to overstep."

Chromia considered this and shifted her weight to one foot. "Okay." She said, sweeping her optics down him. "Go ahead."

He transformed and opened a door. Amy climbed in, literally having to climb. A couple minutes later, they were on the roads, heading for her apartment.

"A-"

"Is-?" Amy stopped as she realized that he was going to say something.

"Go ahead." The mech said. He'd offered to drive her because he'd wanted to speak with her, but he supposed it could wait.

"Is Bee going to be alright?" she asked softly.

There was a heavy pause. "He will." Magnus said with some reserve. Amy thought she heard a hint of displeasure underlying his tone.

"Is there anything I can say or do so he can see that I'm not upset by him?"

"He understands. It is not in _your_ hands."

Amy frowned, having a feeling that she wasn't getting the whole picture. "Would you explain, please?"

There was another heavy pause. Magnus turned a corner with a bit of a sigh. "Auri exploded verbally at him, said some pretty hurtful things. She hadn't come to an apology before you entered, so he was still dealing with the pain."

"Oh…" Amy said softly, feeling badly for the gentle little mech.

"He should perk up once she's soothed the hurt she caused." Magnus added.

"I… I hope so." Amy could imagine how much it would hurt to have one of her friends yell at her for an innocent mistake, especially if she couldn't speak back. This would explain why Prime had come down on the little femme for her rude words.

The rest of the ride was quiet, and then Magnus pulled up to Amy's condo. She told him that she'd be "right back" and then hurried up the sidewalk. She changed quickly and washed the tomato juice out of the pale green blouse. Then she went back out to where Magnus was waiting, still in truck mode.

"Not to pressure you," Magnus began once they were on the road. "But, have you considered what you would have me do for my reparations?"

Amy put her hand against her forehead. "I've tried, I really have, but I don't even have any ideas."

"Ah." The truck seemed uncertain, almost uneasy. Was she turning him down?

"I… I know it's important to you; it's just such a foreign concept that I don't know how to handle it."

Magnus paused at a stop sign then pulled forward. "I see." He said, "Perhaps some examples would help you. Ironhide would assign some job that he wouldn't want to do; cleaning up of the back room in his weaponry, for example. Sunny would demand modeling work."

"Wait- _What?_"

"Sunny paints. He doesn't really have a ready supply of models, so anyone who owns him generally ends up having to model."

Amy processed this with trepidation. "Clothed, I hope…?"

"Armored, you mean. Prowl would assign some tedious menial task. Ratchet would require… I'm no entirely what Ratchet would require. Do you get the concept now?"

Amy nodded. It was generally an un-enjoyable task, performed as a service. Did it have to be un-enjoyable, though? What if it was just a service? She paused and considered what service she would like. She drew a blank. She tried again and asked herself what she wanted. Really, she just wanted to understand the bots better.

She cocked her head. Magnus could do that. He could help her understand the bots better.

"I've got it." She said a couple moments later.

"And what is it?" he asked,

"Half an hour each day, or one hour if you have time." She said, "I want you to explain some aspect of Cybertronian ways to me in detail. Why someone acts a certain way, or what a certain gesture means. Things like that. Will you do that?"

He slowed then turned and stopped in the driveway to the lounge. "I will do that." He said, and his tone carried a hint of touched surprise.

"Thank-you." Amy said, feeling content and delighted.

"You are welcome." He replied sincerely and then pulled forward, entering the lounge. He drove over to the area where the other bots were and let Amy out.

"I liked the greenish shirt better," Chromia said when Amy came around Magnus, heading for the couch.

Amy paused. What sort of greeting was that? Well, it was rude. But she wondered why. How to answer the femme was her next question. What did Chromia want? It seemed like Chromia always wanted something from those around her. For instance, what about that comment about making Elita sing karaoke? What was its purpose? To draw attention?

"Oh, but this one is just as stylish," Amy said in a playful tone, posing for a moment.

Chromia chuckled. "Okay." She said and held down a hand from Amy to climb up.

Amy looked around once she was on the back of the couch again. Auri and Bee had moved. Bee was now sitting beside Ironhide, and Auri was next to Bee, her arms around him in a hug-snuggle, or "huggle." From the content look on Bee's face and the soft one on Auri's, it was clear that she'd apologized and been completely forgiven. The friendship was safe.

Prowl looked like he was trying to mentally work out some problem, but other than that, everything seemed fine now.

"Now what?" Chromia asked lazily as she scooted down and slouched against the armrest, tilting her head back against it and putting her feet on Elita.

"Well," Elita said, taking Chromia's left foot in her hand, "We could talk about what started the war."

"Mmm…" Chromia half-closed her optics with pleasure as Elita began to rub her foot. "Do we really want to get into that subject? There are so many different viewpoints and arguments… we'd end up arguing again. Think we've done that enough for two days."

"I agree." Magnus said, and Prowl nodded. Prime just looked tired and nodded. He'd been dealing with this war for so long that he felt like it might never end, and that was always a depressing thought.

"There's a whole book on the topic that you can read if you like." Ironhide said. "We have all the new human recruits read it as they're getting started."

"Thank-you. I would like that." Amy said. She paused. "If you guys are secret, how do you get new human recruits…?"

"Classified." Prowl and Auri said at the same time.

"That's I was going to say, little wingers." Ironhide said, giving them an amused chastening looked.

"It was a reflex." Prowl said honestly. Auri paused then flattened her wings. She'd just been speaking out-of-order, no reason for it.

"You're brats, both of you." Ironhide said without malice as he rose.

"Didn't _mean_ to be." Auri said earnestly, and her guardian smiled down at her.

"Y'd better not." He said, "Prowl,"

"Sir?" Prowl said neutrally.

"I've got weapons review with a set of new guys, so don't cause any trouble until I get back."

"I have no plans to cause trouble." Prowl said archly. "You forget that I am the second-in-command."

Ironhide nodded then, knowing that Prowl had a point and wanted him to back off. Prowl only took so much from him before he drew the line and used an arch tone.

Ironhide went over to Chromia and kissed her. "See you in a bit." He murmured to her before giving everybody else a general good-bye.

Prime rose, saying that he also had work to attend to. He brushed his fingers against Elita's gently as he wished everyone well, and then he, too, was on his way.

"You gonna run off, too, Ultra Magnus?" Chromia asked drowsily. Elita was rubbing her other foot now, and it just felt sooo good.

"Not just yet." Magnus said, "I feel a sense of foreboding, though…"

"You mean, you hear twin Corvettes approaching." Prowl said with a flat look.

"Is that what it is?" Magnus said, sitting up a little, "Aren't they supposed to be in Med-Bay.

"That is what I had thought." Prowl said, but the next moment, Sunny and Sides came swaggering in with trouble-maker grins on their faces.

"Miss us?" Sunny asked, and Prowl knew they'd come for him.


	84. Chapter 84, The Twins' Retribution

Quick reminder: I don't write slash.

* * *

Chapter 84

**Twins' Retribution and Flareup's Story**

"Miss you?" Chromia said, opening just one optic. "Like I miss a pain in the aft."

"D'awwwww, we missed you, too." Sides said in a teasing voice that didn't quite convince, "In fact, that's why we came over here."

Sunny's optics swept the room swiftly, taking in who was there. Chromia. Elita. Magnus. Those three would be perfect; they understood the system. Bee. Auri. Those two were sleeping; Bee would have been fine, but Auri would have been upset what was going to happen if she saw it. It was good that she was asleep. Sunny gave Sides a brief nod. They were on.

Prowl watched the twosome as they chatted with Chromia. He'd seen Sunny's glance and then his nod to Sides. The twin had just appraised the witnesses and found them suitable. Prowl knew then their legal choice. Punishment would commence. They were planning on paying him right now for pounding them into the pavement. The law allowed them that, provided they had suitable referees. They could have just pressed charges against him and let the court deal with him, but apparently they'd decided against that. He'd hurt them pretty personally; they wanted to deal with him themselves. He understood that.

He had the rank and power to keep them from personally dealing with him. He could simply pull rank and tell them 'no' and that while he'd been wrong to pound them, they could only press charges and let the court handle it because he was senior officer. He _could_ do that, but it wouldn't go well. They would resent him if he pulled rank like that. They would resent him _immensely_ if he pulled rank like that, and he would probably lose a certain amount of their respect. Also, while the court would be fair and lay a heavy penalty on him, the twins would probably not find it satisfactory. They'd find countless little ways to get under his armor and drive him up a wall to make up for it. A series of aggravating little nuisances would wear him down over a period of time until he broke.

It would be best to just accept their punishment.

"Are you not supposed to still be in Med-Bay?" Prowl asked. Since he knew the twins had come for him, their chatting with Chromia was their way of prolonging his inevitable torment. He was, in sense, signaling them to hurry up and get it over with.

The twins grinned icily and came gamboling over. They stopped and stood at angles before Prowl with their hands resting lightly on their hips in false lazy gestures. At this proximity, Prowl could see how tense they really were.

"Well," Sunny said, shrugging, "We weren't hurt that bad."

"Fact of the matter is," Sides said, plopping down on the couch beside Prowl, invading his personal space on the left. Prowl eyed him with distrust. He hated having his personal space invaded, and Sides knew that.

"You like us too much to hurt us very badly." Sunny hopped up on the armrest near Prowl, invading his personal space on the right. Prowl eyed the golden twin now. Now they were _both_ invading his personal space. And he couldn't go anywhere.

Well, technically he could go somewhere, but he'd already reasoned that it would be best to stay and take it.

He glanced at the femmes quickly. They knew what was going on now. Elita was watching with a slight calculating look. She knew that he had to take his punishment, and she was reasonable about not interfering with personal things, but she'd have his back in a second if the twins went too far. Chromia would support him, too. The blue femme was surreptitiously watching and him and the twins from under half-lowered optic-shutters.

The femmes were a comfort, but not enough that he didn't dread what the twins had planned.

"Say it ain't true," Sides said, grinning and leaning into Prowl, drawing his attention back. The twin's grin didn't reach his optics. The corners of his mouth curved upwards, but his optics weren't twinkling.

"Is not." Prowl said and shifted away from the red twin.

"Aw, but it is true," Sunny said. His optics were cold, and his playful tone was forced. "And we like you, too." Bracing his feet against the side of the couch for leverage, he leaned over to Prowl and put his helm against Prowl's.

"Is not." Prowl said, jerking his head away.

"Aw, denial's just confirmation." Sunny quipped and let himself fall onto the couch beside the harassed door-winger. Prowl winced at the swiftness of the motion. "You're actually our best friend. Isn't he, Sides?" he said as he sat up and snuggled against Prowl's shoulder.

"Wrong." Prowl said, half shifting away from Sunny. He dared not move much, though; Sides would figuratively pounce on him if he moved too much in his direction.

"Right," Sides said, linking his arm in Prowl's. So much for keeping Sides off him. "Besties."

Prowl growled and jerked his arm away from Sides'. He nearly shifted to the right again, but Sunny was there. "Iam not 'besties' witheither ofyou. Layoff."

"Awww…" Sides pouted, slumping against Prowl's shoulder. "You talk mean."

"Cheer up, twin," Sunny said, resting his elbow on Prowl's shoulder, making him cringe, "He doesn't really mean it. He actually just wants a hug."

"Stop it." Prowl said, turning his head from left to right to frown at both the twins. He was starting to feel a little panicky now, and a little sick. Never a good sign.

"Group hug." Sunny said with a forced evil chipper tone, sitting up.

Prowl growled, but the twins still hugged him. He squirmed and tried the elbow them off, but he was too hemmed it. "Stop." he objected. "Stop. Stop. Stop!" he kicked.

"You'd think we were tickling him for all this squirming." Sides commented. Sunny lifted his hand and stretched his fingers.

Prowl's whole body stiffened. "If you ever start to tickle me, I will throw you in the brig."He choked out, and from the corner of his optic, he saw Elita shift and Chromia brace.

Sunny relaxed his hand and patted Prowl on the shoulder. "Sounds like someone's cranky." He said in a mock sympathetic tone,

"Probably just having a bad day." Sides said, cuddling against Prowl some more. "Poor fellow."

Prowl fought a wave of nausea. He'd be done for soon. They were invading his personal space to the first degree. No. They were _violating_ his personal space to the first degree. It was what the Cons did; they made it clear that they were in complete power over your body, and then they went for your mind.

Then he paused. They were just the twins, though. They weren't Cons. They were just the twins. The twins didn't have personal space issues like he did. The twins were always elbowing each other, fist-bumping, head-butting, shoulder-shoving. Closeness was part of their friendship. And when they were on bad terms with each other, they didn't touch. There weren't any fist-fights or wrestling matches between the two if they were truly mad at each other.

That was how the twins were.

They were torturing him by getting close because they knew he didn't like closeness. _But_, because of how they were with closeness, he could deduce that they had forgiven him. They wouldn't be sitting by him by if he'd hurt them too deeply. A deep wound would have driven them away, and they would have gotten at him from a distance. Or simply let the court deal with him.

He could, then, take some comfort in this manner of torture. They really had forgiven him but just wanted to make him suffer for a little while. Also, there were a dozen other ways they could have repaid him, but this one seemed to fit in a way. They didn't like having their paintjobs gashed up, which is what he'd done, and he didn't like having his personal space being invaded, which is what they were doing. Let the punishment fit the crime? It was almost logical.

"You having bad day?" Sunny asked, his chin digging into Prowl's shoulder a little.

"I have had better." Prowl replied. He was still feeling tormented and somewhat sick, but it was slightly more bearable now that he'd figured out what was going on in their heads.

"Awww…" Sides patted his shoulder. "Well, we're here for you."

"Evidently." Prowl said grimly, looking at the floor just past his feet.

"Did you bore Auri and Bee to sleep?" Sides asked, motioning to the bots on his other side. Bee gave a drowsy hmm at the sound of his name but didn't respond further.

"I did not." Prowl said, lowering his optics as he thought of something. Maybe he could distract them for a little while. It was probably a vain hope, but he needed some relief. "I could bore _you_ to sleep, though." He said.

"Could you really?"

"I could try." Prowl said, slipping out one of his legal data-pads. "'Regulations and Laws Pertaining to NEST Base.'" He said.

The twins eyed him. This was going to get even more interesting when they '_confiscated'_ his legal data-pad.

Prowl turned the data-pad on and began to read the stuffy legal matter. After thirty seconds, Sides raised an optic-ridge at Sunny, asking if it was time. Sunny held up a finger, signaling him to wait. They had to let Prowl think he was successful for a full minute.

Another thirty seconds passed, and then Sides snatched the device from Prowl.

Prowl grabbed for the data-pad, but Sides quickly snapped it into his own subspace. Prowl's chin lowered. "That's mine." He said darkly. The minute had been nice, but not nearly enough time.

"Aw, come on." Sunny said, rubbing Prowl's shoulder. "You need to learn to share."

Prowl eyed him for a moment then turned to Sides. "Sideswipe." He said quietly, "You will return that data-pad to me in the next fifteen seconds or I will arrest you and brig you for unlawful possession of said data-pad."

Sides thought about it for thirteen seconds then whipped it out at the last second. "Here." He said, not smiling.

"Thank-you." Prowl said, putting the device away for safety. He would not try that again.

"Well, looks like you can't bore us to death." Sunny said complacently as he settled back against Prowl.

"Oh, but I have it all memorized." Prowl said heavily. His spark wasn't in this.

Sides' face froze for a second, as did Sunny's. That gave him a flicker of hope. He began to recite regulations, but he only got about a sentence and a half out before Sunny clamped a hand over his mouth. Prowl moaned softly. He couldn't beat them at their game.

"That's not nice, Prowl." Sunny said patronizingly, "You have to play nice."

Prowl half-considered biting the golden bot's finger. That probably wouldn't end well for him, though. Sides cleared his throat then removed Sunny's hand from Prowl's mouth.

"Fine." Prowl said,

"See, Sunny?" Sides said, "If you treat him nice, he'll treat you nice in return."

Prowl's door-wings lowered. He wanted to correct Sides' grammar. _Nicely_. _Nicely_. Not _nice_. He couldn't though, not without bringing more torment on his head. He lowered his optics. He was going to keep quiet and sit it out. Hopefully. If he could.

Sides made optic contact with Sunny. Prowl had resigned himself now. He didn't need any more punishment. Sunny nodded slightly. After a moment, Prowl realized that the twins were no longer leaning on him. They were still close enough that he could feel the warmth from their bodies, but they were no longer crowding him unmercifully. He moved his head cautiously, turning it just slightly to peek first at Sunny then at Sides. He didn't consider himself safe, but he decided that they were done hazing him for the time being.

"How are things going for you, Agent Sora?" Sides asked, and he thought he heard Prowl heave a tiny sigh.

Amy, from her perch, saw Magnus flick his optics towards her with some apprehension. "They're going well." She said levelly, tersely, hiding her fury at their treatment of Prowl. "We've had some very interesting and informative discussions. And lunch." She was enraged at them, but she was holding her tongue about it.

"Hey, lunch is pretty important." Sides said, grinning, as he leaned back on the couch, "Right, Sunny?"

"You bet." Sunny said. "Lunch was the best part of school. What did we do? Drank Energon and did all kinds of awesome."

"By 'awesome' I assume you mean 'things that got us sent to the principal's office.'" Prowl said quietly. He didn't really want to draw the twins' attention back to him, but he didn't want Amy to be misled about what they had done at school.

"Oh, yeah," Sunny said, widening his optics. "I forgot, you were there with us." He chuckled. "Remember the time," he broke off as Prowl looked almost traumatized. He paused. He wasn't going to hurt Prowl anymore that day. "Well," he said, "This one time, we gulped our Energon down and then slipped out and went back to the class room. We didn't have blackboards or dry-erase boards like you guys do. We had these awesome touch-screens on the walls. They had the same function as your boards do, but they were like, a hundred times better. We just had to select whatever color we wanted and then wrote or drew on them with our fingers or styluses. So, Prowl, Jazz, Sides, and me powered up those things and drew these fabulous murals on them as fast as we could."

Prowl looked almost alright now.

Sunny smiled at him reassuringly then continued with his narrative. "And then we saved them, 'cause we could, and then put the screens into sleep-mode with murals still up. We snuck back to the lunch room, and then tramped back to class with everybody else like good bots."

Sides chuckled. "Our proff hit the on switch, and those murals came right up! You should have seen the look on his face when he saw them. He was torn between being pleased with the artwork and being displeased with the fact that nobody asked permission first. And he was wondering with suspicion about who had done it. In the end, he left the murals up and taught around them because we had drawn cities that related to our lesson."

"That was Prowl's idea, actually." Sides said, giving Prowl a gentle encouraging smile.

Prowl nodded. It had been. That was the way he worked. "He liked your buildings the best, though, if I remember correctly." Prowl replied slowly, and he touched Sides' shoulder for a second with just his fingertips.

Sides nodded. And he knew that things were fine between Prowl and himself now.

"But my colors and shading were superior over all." Sunny said, not about to let himself be left out.

"Of course." Prowl said, "You would settle for nothing less." He gave Sunny's shoulder the same brief touch that he'd given Sides'.

Sunny smiled a hint of a smile into his optics. Everyone and everything was fine now.

"We should-" Sunny started to say, but Ratchet came in with a dark look on his face.

"There you are." The medic growled. The twins froze and looked uneasily at the irate medic. "I've been looking for you slaggers for the past twenty minutes. Next time I'm going to put tracking devices in your afts."

"Unnecessary." Prowl said his commander voice. "They were here for the sole purpose of discussing something with me." The twins' optics flicked towards him, wondering that he would stand up for them against Ratchet the Hatchet.

Ratchet gave him a scathing look. "They were not cleared to leave Med-Bay."

"Shoot, Ratchet, you took a lunch break, why couldn't we?" Sides asked.

"Twins," Prowl said, "Go with Ratchet, and do not give him further trouble. Next time, you ask."

The twins eyed each other for a second and then nodded to him. "Yes, sir." They both said. Then they picked themselves up off the couch and limped over to Ratchet, who by this time was looking a little nonplussed.

"Must have been some discussion." Ratchet said then he turned to escort the twins back to Med-Bay.

They were gone.

Prowl heaved an immense sigh of relief, audible to everybody in the room, then let himself fall back against the back of the couch. He let his head fall back, too, and closed his optics.

"Need a high-grade?" Chromia asked nonchalantly.

"What?!" Amy snapped angrily, jumping up. "I don't get it!" she yelled. She'd had it. All the awake bots in the room except for Prowl shifted uncertainly. She was furious. They'd never seen her that furious. "The twins just waltz in here and start bullying the hell out of Prowl, and none of you do anything, and when they finally leave, all you do is offer drink like it was nothing!"

Prowl groaned quietly.

"Please calm down, Sora." Elita said gently. "I will explain it for you. When Prowl launched into the twins the other day, it was a crime against them. The twins could press charges or they could repay him themselves with referee present. That was what you just saw. The twins just came to repay him for that, to punish him for breaking the law. He could have pulled rank on them and forced them to let the court handle him, but he did not. Therefore, we respected his decision to take his punishment from them, and we acted as referee. Had the twins started to go too far, we would have stopped them. As for the high-grade," Elita's tone grew stern, "You simply do not understand Chromia. You assumed that she didn't care because she used a nonchalant tone, and you were wrong."

Amy lowered her head, taking Elita's last words as the rebuke they were meant to be. "Thank-you for explaining." She said humbly as she sat down again. The sternness of Elita's tone when she said 'you were wrong' had stung. She clasped her hands and looked at them. "I'm sorry, Chromia." She said after a moment. "Elita's right; I didn't understand. I shouldn't have jumped to conclusions. I do know that you care about your comrades… I think I was just mad about the twins bullying Prowl, and…" she stopped. "I guess I misunderstood that, too."

"Hey, forget it." Chromia said looking at her neutrally, "We'll explain stuff to you."

Amy felt her shoulders slump in defeat. She'd gained Chromia's approval such a short time ago, and now she'd lost it and was getting a neutral look with an almost flat tone. All because she'd misunderstood things and lost her temper.

"Hey," Chromia poked her in the arm, nearly startling her out of her wits and making her gasp. "You misinterpreted me again. I wasn't cold-shouldering you. I was thinking about how many times I've misinterpreted humans and why. You're still 'okay' in my book."

This made Amy smile. She rubbed her arm where Chromia had poked it then gave her a somewhat shy smile. "Thank-you." She said.

"No problem." Chromia said sincerely. She looked over at Prowl again. "Prowl, high-grade?"

Prowl shook his head. "No, thank-you." He said gently. "I am going to rest for fifteen minutes, and then I am going back to my office with Auri and Agent Sora."

Chromia smiled at Elita. "Sounds like a good plan." She wouldn't have to babysit anymore.

OoOoOoOoOoO

It was late when Elita returned to her and Prime's quarters for the evening. It had been a bit of a long day, but not so much so that she was overly tired. "Go get some Prime time," had been Chromia's parting words.

Elita slipped into their quarters and found Prime lying on the couch, his optics closed, and an empty cube of Energon on the floor by the couch. The femme felt a twinge of disappointment. She'd already had Energon for the evening as well, so she was glad the Prime had had his. The disappointment was about finding him asleep.

A sleeping mech wasn't much fun.

He needed his sleep, though. Life was stressful for a leader like him.

He was her sparkmate, though. They needed each other.

Elita paused. She could settle for less than she'd planned for the evening, but they would at least do a little something together not related to work.

Going over to the couch, she carefully climbed onto it and over Prime and then sat down on his pelvis. His optics slowly blinked open. A bit of a smile curved his mouth.

"Hello," he said, and his deep, velvety voice was a little deeper as it was when he'd just woken in the mornings.

"Hello, yourself," Elita said, resting her hands on her legs. "What if I'd been a Con sneaking up on you like that?" she asked, her tone a lightly teasing one.

"A very different set of proximity alarms would have gone off." Prime murmured, watching from half-closed optics for her pleased reaction when his fingers made contact with her left leg. He was well rewarded with a look of surprised delight, and he smiled. She hadn't seen that coming. She, with good reason, believed him to be half-asleep. "I like these proximity alarms the best," he purred as he trailed his fingers up her hip and rested his hand there. Shooting her a quick upward glance, he saw that he had her grinning demurely.

She chuckled when she saw his optics. "Were you even asleep?" she asked, delighted now with how not-asleep he was.

"Right up until you touched the keypad on the door." He said, optics twinkling, "I set that to alert me… so I could lie in wait."

Elita lowered her optics coyly, enjoying the mild flirtation. "Lying in wait sounds rather criminal; I'm not altogether sure I should stay."

"Mmmm," Prime purred, and it sent shivers of delight through her frame, "Stay."

"You," Elita said, bending down, "Will have to convince me." She planted a kiss on his mouth.

"Mm. That I can do." Prime murmured, but then he paused. A look a concern crossed his face.

Elita paused. She knew that look. There was something else that needed attention.

"'M sorry," Prime said softly, hesitating, "I need to ask about Prowl and the twins."

Elita nodded. She understood and didn't blame him a bit, recalling times when she'd been too concerned about some in her troops to give Prime immediate attention. She let herself down so that she was lying on top of Prime, her hands folded on top of his chest and under her chin.

"He said that the twins came during Ratchet's lunch to met out the penalty, but he didn't say how it went." he trailed off.

She nodded. "They were pretty hard on him, but having seen the footage of how he thrashed them, I think they stayed quite within bounds."

"How were the attitudes?"

"The twins were not enjoying it." She said softly, "You know how sometimes when they're picking on someone, you can just tell that they're having a good time? Everything about them made it clear that they weren't happy about inflicting pain on Prowl. And, oh, Prime, they were so good to him afterwards. Then when he told them to go along with Ratchet, they said 'yes, sir' and went." Elita added some more about the day. "Prowl went back to his office after a little while, and Auri and Agent Sora went with him. Magnus stopped by later, and he told me that the two wingers were talking about fax machines and photocopiers, making Sora laugh."

At this Prime smiled a hint of a smile. "He must be fine then." He concluded.

"More than fine, I think," Elita said meaningfully.

"In what way?" Prime asked.

"Unobservant." She said tapping his nose lightly with her forefinger. "Did you not see how he got jealous when Auri planted that light little kiss on Bee's check?"

Prime paused then nodded. "Yes." He said, "But she is too young for him."

"Only for a little while." Elita said. "Physically, she's old enough. Once she grows up emotionally and mentally, I think…" she smiled, "I think they would fit."

Prime mulled this over thoughtfully. He wasn't sure what he thought…

Elita leaned forwards, "Besides, did you not see that Auri blushed when she kissed him, but not when she kissed Bee?"

Prime paused then smiled. He knew what he thought now. "I just want to see if _you_ will blush when you kiss _me_."

Elita smiled. He was done being concerned about his bots and back to her. "We can arrange that." She said, scooting. She kissed him.

"Hmm," Prime held her chin in his hands then and scrutinized her cheeks. "No blush." He said. Then his optics twinkled. "I know what will make you blush, though." He said. He paused for effect and then, "Sing." He said, mischievous delight lighting his expression. She was so self-conscious about singing that she blushed every time.

"Ohhhh… no." she said, casting her optics down as her cheeks warmed. She was smiling, though; here was something he wanted. She could play that out a bit.

"Ohhh, yes." Prime coaxed, rubbing her sides gently, "Sing,"

She shook her head, teasing him to take action. He smiled then gently pushed her back so she was sitting up again.

"You're not coming back down until I've had my song," he said, purring in the most irresistible way.

She cocked her head. "What if, you don't get your song until I come back down." She teased.

Prime growled playfully, "Negotiable." He pulled her close again. "Sing."

Elita chuckled softly. "Mm…" she paused then, softly, she started to sing, "_It's so hypnotic…_" she blushed as he smiled at her, "_The way he pulls on me_,_ it's like the force of gravity_." It was Madonna's song that Chromia had mentioned earlier, "_Right up under my feet. It's so erotic_," and Prime couldn't have been more pleased, "_this feeling can't be beat, pulsing through my whole body…_" she trailed off as she drowned in the beautiful intensity of his optics. And then there were his lips. Kiss? Or sing more?

Prime made the call and kissed her, kissing long and sweet. "Lovely," he purred, "You know," he paused then raised an optic-ridge, "I believe I have a backstage pass for this show."

That could only mean their berth-room. Elita could have laughed, she was so pleased. "Backstage it is then." She said.

OoOoOoOoOoO

It was next morning, and Auri was partially awake. She knew she should wake herself all the way and get up, but she was too comfortable there, cuddled against Flareup. Flareup wasn't grounded anymore, and they'd had a slumber party in Flareup's quarters, just the two of them. They'd put glittery polish on their fingertips and eaten more candy than they should have, and Flareup had pulled up music on her sound system so they could have dance contests and sing slightly off-key. That had been fun… sister-bond time.

Auri made a low grumbling noise when Flareup shifted away and sat up. That meant she'd have to get up soon…

Flareup tickled Auri's neck lightly, "Psst," she whispered, "Time to wake up."

"Mmmm… not yet." Auri murmured,

"C'mon, Snuggles, don't you want breakfast?" Flareup teased gently, giving Auri's middle a light poke.

Auri grinned. "Well… when you put it _that_ way. I guess so." She teased back as she sat up. She stretched a little and fanned her wings up then down before settling them at their normal place.

"Flareup…?" Auri asked once they had wandered into the other room.

Flareup paused as she was getting out two cubes of Energon. Auri sounded rather serious, almost troubled. "Yeah? What is it, sparklette?" she replied, resuming her activity.

Auri looked down and fingered the edge of the tabletop. "Did… has… has Chromia ever said anything about… like… her family?"

Flareup paused again. "I don't know." She said. Then she added slowly, picking her words carefully, "If she has, it wasn't in my presence. I hardly know anything about her past."

Looking up, Auri gave her a bit of a smile. "Okay. I was just wondering."

"I wonder, too, sometimes." Flareup said quietly. "But, I know that if she wanted us to know, she'd tell us."

Auri nodded. "Yeah…" she hesitated for a couple moments and then told Flareup about Chromia's slips from yesterday, the ones about her stepsister and stepfather.

Flareup thought it over. "None of that surprises me really." She said rather sadly.

"Do you think she wasn't happy?" Auri asked.

"Spark," Flareup said, wincing a little, "She doesn't want us feeling bad for her. Let's not go there, okay?"

Auri nodded after a second. "Okay."

Flareup smiled at her, feeling super lucky at having such darling a little sister. "Here's your breakfast."

"Mmm…! Yum, thank-you!" Auri chirped happily, her door-wings flicking up as she took the cube. Flareup chuckled at her enthusiasm and sat, taking her own her cube in her hands with a smile. Feeding Auri was always fun; it was almost like feeding a sparkling, the way the little femme got so happy about receiving her fuel.

A few minutes passed in companionable quiet, and then Auri looked thoughtfully at Flareup.

"How did you end up with Chromia?" the little femme asked, lowering her wings a little as if to say she didn't want to overstep.

Flareup smiled fondly at the memory. "Well," she began, "It was when I was training with a group of other bots under Firestar, and she, as you know, is in the search and rescue field. That _was_ the field I thought I wanted to go into, but after a while, I began to have my doubts. I really, really did not like the medic stuff. I could do it, but it wasn't something I was even half comfortable with. My grades started to drop bit by bit as we progressed, and it wasn't because I was slacking; I just couldn't focus well enough on the practical tests. Firestar was –and is- an excellent teacher, and she made sure to get to know each of her students individually so she could better them with their training programs and careers. One day I was so depressed about the training that I stayed in my quarters and didn't go to training. Firestar came that evening to see if I was alright, and to express her concern about the trend my grades were taking. I explained how I didn't really feel cut out for the field. I think I started crying a little because I was so stressed about it. I didn't know what else I could do.

"She was so, so understanding and kind. She put a gentle hand on my shoulder and told me that I was a gifted young femme, that I could probably do anything I set my spark on doing. And then she told me that she wanted me to stay with search and rescue program until I reached the first graduation so that I would have those qualifications to aid me in whatever other field I wished to pursue." Flareup paused to smile. "I said okay, but I banged my head on my pillow in frustration once she left.

"And then I went back to training the next morning. Several weeks later, the training program was moved over to a different building in a different city. This new building was a huge complex, and it worked so much better for our set up. And," Flareup paused, making Auri lean forward in anticipation, "There were other programs at work there as well."

"Oooh!"

Flareup nodded. "One weekend, Firestar showed up at my quarters and said, 'hey, wanna walk around and see what the other trainees get stuck with on the weekends?' I said sure and bounced off my berth like sparkling. We explored the huge complex and stuck our heads in other trainer's training rooms and yards. One yard turned out to be a shooting range, and there was a blue femme there, shouting critiques over gunfire. 'Pit frag it! The Con's'll kill you in two glitchin' seconds if you power your blaster up that dang slow! Do it fast! Moon-! You wanna be a sniper or slaggin' dead? Keep your skinny aft down when you crawl! TRAAAAAAACKS-! Down on one knee! Slag the paintjob! You don't shoot that kinda gun standing like!'"

Auri giggled with delight at Flareup's imitation of Chromia as a drill sergeant. Flareup grinned back at her. "Those are the actual words she said. First things I ever heard her say. All cussing.

"I was fascinated with the shooting. Oh, they were doing all different kinds, and it just looked cool. Firestar noticed this and stood by me, watching me watch. 'You wanna try that?' she asked after a while, and I nodded, sorta mesmerized. And then she asked, 'Do you know who that is?' And I shook my head. 'Chromia.' Firestar said, and I was like, 'Oh… whoa.' I'd heard of Chromia, and how tough she was, but I hadn't known what she looked like. We stood and watched. Once the shooting practice stopped, the practice guns had to be cleaned and cleaned properly. Chromia roamed around her students and checked on their work, and once everyone was done, Chromia took questions for a short while and then sent everyone off.

"Then she came sauntering over, and smirked lightly. 'Hey, Fire, watcha doin' over here?' she said. I think my optics must have doubled in size at that. Chromia knew my trainer on a nickname basis! 'Just lookin' around.' Firestar said, 'My trainee here is lookin' to enter a different field once she graduates, and we were just scoutin' out the options.' Chromia said, 'Hmm,' and swept her optics down then up me briefly. 'And this looked interesting?' she asked me. I nodded, overwhelmed. 'Ever shot before?' she asked, and I said, 'Yeah,' and nodded like I shot all the time. 'Cool,' Chromia said, 'Let's see,' and motioned us to follow her over to the gun shelves. She took one a nice-looking firearm and handed it to me. It was heavy and complicated looking, and I wasn't even sure how to hold it. 'Ever shot before?' Chromia asked again. I tell you, my face got so hot. 'Nothing like this.' I mumbled.

"Firestar came to my rescue then. 'My class is mostly just familiar with the small-class pistols and number six rifles so far.' She said. Then Chromia said, 'Defense weapons.' We nodded. 'These fraggers are offense weapons.' Chromia said to me, 'Think you can handle that?'

"I looked at the big gun in my hands for a couple moments and then nodded. 'With training I can.' I said. Chromia half-smiled then. 'Kay.' She said, 'I'll see you here at seven in the morning before classes.' 'Yes, ma'am.' I said. And she did. I was there, -I was the only one there- and I really thought I was going to die. After fifteen minutes, though, I realized that she was tough but not mean or harsh. And we got along well. She finished with me at eight, and then sauntered with me to Firestar's training yard where I had class at eight-thirty. Firestar said, 'Well?' And Chromia smiled nonchalantly. 'I may steal her from you.' She said, and I thought I was going to glitch out with delight. After that, she trained me solo each morning before classes, and then once I graduated from Firestar's course, I was transferred to Chromia's and was in her training program."

"Awesome." Auri said with a happy smile.

"It was awesome." Flareup agreed. "She became my mentor. And once Firestar got transferred to a different training complex, I started going to Chromia for just about anything. Advice. More advice. Comfort. Company.

Flareup looked down. "One day I called in to one of the head bots's office. I had lied about my age, and somewhere I slipped up, and they had found out. I was probably going to be dropped from training. I was pretty upset and completely devastated. I came stumbling into Chromia's class about twenty minutes late. Nobody, and I mean, _nobody_ came late to Chromia's class. Going in, I thought she might kill me, but she just looked over briefly and told me that I had to stay late.

"Once everybody was gone, she came over, and that's when I thought she was going to kill me. 'You don't show up late.' She said, and ice ran through my system at the tone of her voice. 'You show up late for a real battle and you'll find your friends dead.' I started crying then. 'There's not going to be any real battle for me,' I sobbed. She said, 'Huh?' And I –crying- told her everything me about lying about my age and probably getting dropped from the training programs because I had no guardian to sign for me. Chromia listened without saying anything. When I was done, she cocked her head and said, 'That's tough.' I nodded miserably. And then she said, 'You still have twenty minutes to make up. Drop and give me forty push-ups for starters, and then you're running four laps, and we'll how much time is left.' She really kicked my tail those twenty minutes, and I then I knew exactly why none of her trainees had ever shown up late.

"She's really softened up now." Auri said thoughtfully.

Flareup nodded with a smile. "You bet she has. And she's cleaned up her language."

"What happened next?"

"I was so depressed the next day about getting dropped that I didn't even get up, not for Chromia's class."

Auri gasped.

"Yeah." Flareup said wryly. "Late that afternoon, Chromia knocked on my door, and I just lay there and pretended to be dead. She knocked a second time, and then was silence. Tears started running from my optics again. After a bit, I heard my door open, and Chromia came. 'You missed a whole day of class, femmebot.' She said. I sniffled and then sobbed, 'What does it matter? I'm getting dropped from the program.' Chromia said, 'You're not.'

"I blinked in disbelief. 'I'm not?' I asked. 'Nope.' Chromia said, 'Someone has agreed to sign for you.' I sat up then, 'Really?' I asked, and she nodded her head once. At that, I started to cry with relief, and then I asked, 'who?' Chromia kinda smiled then. 'Me.' She said.

Auri squealed with delighted and beamed at her sister, making her chuckle.

"And that's how I ended up with Chromia." She concluded.

"I love it." Auri purred.

Flareup smiled at her fondly. "It was probably the best thing that ever happened to me." She said.

Then Auri squeaked in dismay. "Imma be late." She gasped then started gulping her Energon. She'd completely forgotten to drink it while Flareup was talking.

"Slow down. You'll choke on it."

Auri swallowed. "I can't be late." She said, but she drank more slowly when she lifted her cube a second time.

"The twins are giving their public, official apology to Amy this morning, aren't they?" Flareup asked.

Auri nodded while drinking, sloshing her Energon a bit.

"You have worse eating manners than a mechling." Flareup said with chuckle.

Auri swallowed the last bit of her Energon. "I'll rebuff that insult when I have time," she gasped, her optics twinkling cheerfully. She knew Flareup didn't mean it. She hopped down from her stool. "Bye! I love you!" she hugged Flareup.

"Bye. Love you, too." Flareup said. "Next time we'll pick a day when you don't have to go in early."

"Yeah!" Auri responded enthusiastically as she darted for the door.

"Don't get a speeding ticket." Flareup called playfully.

Auri giggled at that, and then the door shut.

oOoOoOoOoOo

Somebody knocked on the door of the twins' quarters.

"Uhg…" Sunny grumbled.

Sides rolled over and eyed his twin from across the room. "Isn't there some rule about visiting hours?"

Somebody knocked again.

"Only when we're in Med-Bay." Sunny said. "That was the one perk."

"Oh, well…" Sides sighed. Ratchet had released them last night.

Somebody knocked again, this time with more force.

"You get it."

"You get it."

"I told you to first."

Somebody pounded on the door. "TWINS!"

"Oh, slag, it's Magnus."

"I'll get it." Sunny said. He went into the other room and opened the door. "It's early for visiting." He said, "Especially since we're still recuperating."

"You seemed fine enough yesterday." Magnus pointed out as he stepped into the twins' quarters.

"What's the honor?" Sides asked, wandering in with a slight limp.

"Today is the day you two are making your official, public apology to Agent Sora," Magnus started.

"Mech, we know that. _We_ were the ones who planned it and sent out the memos."

"I was not finished." Magnus said, drawing out a data-pad. "Besides apologizing, there is something else that you must do."

Sunny looked at Sides, and Sides looked at Sunny. After a couple seconds they looked at Magnus. "There is?"

"Yes." He said, just barely managing to keep from smiling. "This is what you are going do." He held out the data-pad.

Sunny looked at Sides and then took the data-pad carefully. They eyed Magnus and each other, and then they looked down at the data-pad at the same time.

"NO!" Sunny yelled as Sides gasped. "That's cruel and unusual punishment! You can't make us do _that_!"

"Oh, but I can." Magnus said, "Or, I can come up with some other penalty that you will like even less."

"Th-this is horrible…" Sunny stuttered, staring down at the data-pad. Sides nodded, but he didn't see any way out of it. They were doomed.


	85. Ch 85, Prowl's Morning & Twins' Apology

The Transformers Prime Beasthunters toys have shown up at my Wal-Mart and they are awwwwwsome! I'm in love with the big Wheeljack, and Smokey-Sue, er, I mean, Smokescreen, looks pretty adorable. *wants* AND Bumble has a crossbow! A crossbow, people, a _crossbow_! It's stinkin' cute!

* * *

Chapter 85

**Prowl's Morning & the Twins' Apology**

Auri pulled up to the office in car mode, transformed quickly, and darted towards the door. Only slowing a little, she came to the door and gave the doorknob a turn. Then she smacked right into the door with a sound "thump."

"Ow." She looked around quickly, hoping nobody had seen that. No one had. She jiggled the doorknob, wondering why on earth it was locked. It was supposed to be unlocked. She'd _thought_ it would have been unlocked. If it had been, she would _not_ have smacked into the door in that ridiculous manner.

She paused and rubbed her forehead. Then she knocked on the door. When nobody answered, she went ahead and unlocked it and ventured into the darkened room. Quickly, she flicked on the lights, -she didn't care for the dark- and she peered around. No Prowl anywhere. And she knew he wasn't hiding for a prank on her. The twins would do that, but he never would. She intercommed him, but received no response. Something had to be wrong, she decided. She locked up and went to Med-Bay.

Creeping into Med-Bay quietly, she looked around cautiously. No Prowl anywhere here; she would have to look in other rooms or ask someone. She was about to call for Ratchet when he wandered in, holding an Energon cube and a data-pad and muttering to himself. He stopped when he saw her and looked exceptionally displeased.

"No you don't." He told her sharply as if she'd been misbehaving. Her wings flicked in surprise, but he continued, "You go right back where you came from and tell Prowl that if he sends you in this early in the day to collect reports again I'll smack the both of you."

Auri's wings flicked down in dismay. "Yes, sir!" She gasped. Then she turned, tripping over her feet a little, and darted to the door. She went out swiftly and didn't stop until she was on the sidewalk. She'd heard that Ratchet could be a grouch really earlyin the morning, but now she _knew_ he was. She also now knew that Prowl wasn't in Med-Bay. She sighed and started walking down the road, concerned that Prowl was still missing. She tried intercomming him again. No response.

She paused then decided that she'd go see if he was in his quarters. She wasn't even sure where his quarters were, but she had the address from his file.

After a following her GPS, she ended up standing at a door in the quieter part of their city. She double-checked the address twice and then tapped on the door. A couple moments later, she knocked firmly then put her head against the door and listened carefully. No sounds. She nudged the door a little in frustration and jumped back with a start when it moved. It hadn't even been locked or closed properly.

Hesitantly, she poked it open with two fingers and stuck her head in. She'd never seen Prowl's quarters before. The lights were on, and they showed that Prowl had never done anything with his quarters. The walls were bare, and still white. Most bots put things on the walls, or at least changed the color. There was a couch against one wall and an impeccably neat desk on the other side of the room. A table stood icily in the corner with a stool stiffly under it. It was probably even more sterile than Ratchet's operating table, Auri thought.

She thought they were the most awful and unwelcoming quarters she'd ever seen. Even slum shacks had something pretty in them, but Prowl's quarters had nothing. It was a wonder the atmosphere in them hadn't frozen him to death. She pitied him.

Prowl was nowhere to be seen in this room. The only evidence that anyone lived in here was a mostly full Energon cube on the floor. Why was it on the floor?

"Prowl?" she called softly, eyeing the doorway to the other room. No answer. Her wings lowered, and she hesitated then tip-toed softly and slowly towards the doorway. "Prowl…?"

She stopped when she saw him.

He was in a deep recharge, his cooling system gusting softly, his wings at a completely relaxed angle, rising and falling ever so slightly. But he was lying face down on his berth with his feet hanging off the edge just a little, looking like he'd just walked up to his berth and flopped down on it and not shifted.

Auri cocked her head. It didn't look very comfortable. Well, he had to get up, anyway. There were things that had to be done at the office that she couldn't take care of; they had to be done by Prowl. He was needed. Soon. Now.

"Prowl," she said, creeping over to the sleeping bot. She shook his shoulder. His left wing _might_ have shifted a tiny bit, but other than that, he didn't respond. "Prowwwwol…" She shook his shoulder harder. His wing did shift this time, but still he didn't respond.

"Aw, come on." She huffed, giving him a shove. He was too heavy for her to move, though. "You sleep like a rock." She said, planting her hands on her hips. Prowl kept sleeping peacefully. She went to the foot on the berth and pinched his ankle circuitry, hard. That always woke Chromia, but Prowl didn't respond. Auri smacked the bottom of his foot in exasperation. Aggravating mech!

She went back and tried shaking his shoulder again to no avail. "Wake up, will you?!" She paused, then leaned over and yelled, "WAKE UP, _WON'T_ YOU?!" After that, she sighed. If roaring a contraction in his audio-receptor didn't wake him up… nothing verbal would. She stamped up to the head of the berth and grabbed the pillow and then hurled it at him in frustration. The pillow struck his wings, and they twitched.

Auri perked up. Finally! A response!

Then the wings settled back down, and Auri gave them a dark look. A determined look settled on her face then. He might fire her later, but she was going to make him wake up. She climbed on the berth and got the other pillow.

She lifted it up, and then she paused, debating the wisdom of hitting her employer and superior officer with a pillow.

He had to be woken, though.

And he was her friend some of the time.

She tightened her fingers around the pillow then swung it hard, whacking the Second-in-Command across the back and catching his sensitive door-wings in the process.

"Dha!" Prowl jumped up, but being on the very edge of the berth, and having his feet hanging off the edge too, he lost his balance and crashed to the floor with quite an impressive thump.

Auri's mouth was a little "o" of shock.

Prowl sat up swiftly as he whipped out his stun-blasters and leveled them at his attacker.

Auri squeaked in dismay and cringed, holding the pillow as a shield between her and Prowl's weapons. Stun-blasters were like stun-guns only bigger and probably less pleasant.

Prowl lowered the blasters slowly until they were resting on the berth. He looked around cautiously. This was incredibly strange… him and Auri in his quarters, Auri on his berth with a pillow in her hands, a pillow on the floor, him on the floor. How did this happen, anyway?

"Prowl?" Auri asked, growing concerned at the baffled look on his face. "Did you hit your head and get confessed?"

Prowl pursed his lips. "You mean 'concussed.'" He said uncertainly, deciding he wouldn't stand up until he was surer about what was going on. He wasn't entirely sure if this was a dream or not.

"Oh. Concussed." Auri echoed. She cocked her head, "Did you?"

"I do not think so." He said slowly. He had a sinking feeling that this wasn't a dream. "What happened?"

"You weren't in the office, and you weren't –uh, were _not_ in Med-Bay, so I came here, and the door was unlocked." Auri answered. "You were completely asleep, and so I woke you up by hitting you with a pillow."

Prowl's wings twitched. _That's _ what that had been.

"I tried shaking you, honest I did, but that did not work." She said earnestly. "Please do not be mad at me." She coaxed, dipping her wings down.

"I am not mad." Prowl said as he rose. This was decidedly not a dream. He put the stun-blasters away and picked the pillow up off the floor. Auri watched. He caught her optics and realized just where she was. "Get off my berth." He told her. "You should not have been there in the first place."

Auri dropped the pillow and hopped off quickly. He was not using a stern tone, but she was a little edgy since she _had_ hit him with a pillow.

"In fact," he added, "You should not even be in my quarters, for propriety's sake. You should have gotten Ironhide or someone to wake me."

"Yes, sir." Auri said, but she had several reasons why she hadn't. First: she'd not thought of it. Second: Ironhide would be incredibly lazy at this time because of last night. Third: anybody else who was awake at this hour would be busy or, like Ratchet, extremely cross.

"Go on out now." Prowl told her, putting the pillows in place, "I will be coming in three minutes."

"Yes, sir." She answered but hesitated, an unasked question on her lips.

Prowl brushed a wrinkle from the unused blanket then lifted his optic-ridges at her. "What?"

Her head dipped down, "I don't mean to step out of place…" she said in a little voice, "But… but… aren't you going to have breakfast?"

His tank growled at that. He'd not had a proper dinner last night, and he was hungry. Auri gave him a meaningful look. She's heard that hungry tank.

He felt his face warm a little and put a hand self-consciously on his middle. "You are right." He said, "I should. I will. But, you go. I will be coming in _twelve_ minutes."

She nodded and then left.

He went out and picked the cube up off the floor. He'd taken a sip of it last night, but he'd had no appetite, only immense weariness, so he'd gone to recharge.

He settled down on his couch and took a drink, savoring the first bit that took the edge off his tank. He still felt sore from the anxiety that the twins had inflicted on him yesterday. The ordeal had left him drained. He'd hidden it well, hiding how much it had taken out of him when anybody was around, but in truth, he'd felt mildly sick all day.

It was over now, though. All done. He reassured himself, relaxed himself, and took another drink of his Energon. He would be alright. He would live. He-

He nearly choked as the twins pounded on his door. He spit the Energon back into the cube and wiped his mouth.

"Prowl!" Sunny sounded upset.

Prowl opened the door. "What's wrong?" he asked, so startled at the looks on their faces that he slipped up and used a contraction.

"Magnus is a monster!" Sides half-wailed as he and Sunny stumbled in uninvited. Prowl paused then hesitantly decided that he wouldn't kick them out. He closed the door.

"A cruel and unusually cruel monster!" Sunny moaned as he dropped onto Prowl's couch. _Prowl's_ couch. The couch that belonged to Prowl and nobody else. Prowl didn't like it. It was his couch, not Sunny's.

"Do you know what he's going to _do_ to us?" Sides asked, crumpling up beside Sunny on Prowl's couch.

"No." Prowl said, working with himself about being over-possessive. The twins weren't supposed to be on his couch, though. It was his. His.

Someone tapped tentatively on his door. His wings flicked in irritation. Auri had started a bad trend today. Nobody was supposed to come to his quarters. They were his quarters. Not anybody else's. His.

Prowl went over and opened the door. Auri was there, looking concerned. "I saw the twins…"

Prowl sighed and motioned her in. She could be in his quarters now since the twins were there. –NOT that he'd ever consider the twins suitable chaperons.

"Oh, twins! What's wrong?" She exclaimed softly, running over to them. "What happened?"

Prowl took a drink of his Energon then went over to where the twins were trespassing on his couch and Auri was just trespassing.

"Magnus said we had to do _this_ for Agent Sora…" Sunny moaned, handing over a data-pad.

Auri took it and took one look at it before bursting into giggles. She giggled so hard that she doubled over then plopped down on the floor to laugh. "Oh-! Hehehehe-!" she giggled. "Twiiins!" She squeaked then giggled helplessly and flopped over onto her belly.

"Great." Sides said, "Just great." And Sunny looked slightly mad.

Prowl raised an optic-ridge then stooped and took the data-pad from Auri, looking askance at her. Then he looked at the data-pad. His mouth twitched, as did his wings. He wrestled with a smirk. The stubborn smirk didn't want to go away, though. It resisted, and…

Prowl chuckled.

The twins stared up at him. Then they looked reproachful.

He stopped.

"I am sorry, twins." He said, trying not to smile, "I should not laugh at… you…" he looked down at the data-pad again and smiled, "This."

Auri giggled a little giggle.

"Slaggin' scrap, Auri!" Sunny protested, "It's not funny!"

"I'm sorry," Auri said, trying not to laugh any more, but her optics twinkled with amusement. "It _is_, though. It's hilarious."

"That's it." Sides said in a glum tone, "We are going to be the laughingstock of NEST, and we're going to die of shame."

Auri giggled at that, but Prowl knew the twins better than she did. He knew they were more sensitive than they ever let on. Small things they joked about weren't always just for fun; sometimes they joked because it would hurt any other way. They obsessed over some things to keep out thoughts of other things. He knew they needed a gentle hand now.

"That is enough, Auri." Prowl said, and she stilled at his tone. It wasn't a harsh or sharp tone, but it told her that she was being insensitive. "Twins, I know that know that it will be rough for you, but I know that you can do it. You were pretty brutal to Agent Sora, and while she has forgiven and will forgive you, this will go a long way to helping her see your goodwill towards her. It is something you can do, and it will mean a lot to her. And… I know you two can 'rock' it."

The twins looked down. They weren't sure what they had been expecting when they'd come to log their complaint, but one thing was for sure: they'd not expected Prowl to encourage them. But he had, and his words had touched them and given them courage.

"Thanks… Prowl," Sides said, sounding a little stunned but sincere. Sunny nodded slowly in agreement.

Auri was looking serious now. She'd not thought about how the twins would feel, especially about her laughing at their 'punishment.' Prowl's words to them made her realize that. She got up. "I'm sorry I laughed." She said earnestly, "I will try not to laugh when-" she broke off and her wings twitched up, "I'll _try_ not to." She said.

"Aw," Sides said with a shrug, "You're our little bestie, so we won't mind. Other bots, though-" his face darkened.

"I won't let _anybody_ laugh at you." Auri said defensively, crossing her arms.

Prowl looked slightly bemused but also touched. "Aurion, I am sorry to say, but even _I_ would have a hard time doing that." He said gently.

Auri frowned. "I don't want the twins getting laughed at, though." She said softly, looking down.

"Ohhh," Sunny said, "It's okay, I guess." he'd be tough for little Auri's sake.

"You sure?" Auri asked.

He looked at Sides then back at Auri. He nodded. "Yeah." He paused, "Hey, we'll have fun with it." He decided.

Sides nodded. "Uh-huh." He said, gaining confidence, "We got this."

They left, Auri left, and Prowl stayed. He looked around his quarters. His. He finished his breakfast, and then he went to his office.

OoOoOoOoOoOoO

Sunny cursed. "This looks awful."

"Unicron awful." Said Sides.

"Ratchet-in-the-morning awful." Sunny replied.

"Ha! I don't know which one is worse."

"Me neither. This looks awful, though."

"It could have been worse."

"True… maybe."

"Totally. I can think of two-hundred different ones that would be worse."

"I can think of two-hundred different ones that would be better, though."

"Magnus is chummy with her; maybe she said something about this."

"I _hope_ so. Cause if she doesn't like this, I'm not going to do it."

"Yeah. Same here."

Pause.

"Let's go above the call."

"Uh… like… how?"

"Like this,"

"No! No way, Sides-bro!"

"Aw, come on. We're secure about our masculinity; we can do this."

"You are fragging glitched in the head."

"I will if you will. Besides, it would be awesome to see ol' Magnus's reaction if we did."

"Shoot. You know I can't resist harassing Magnus. Okay. Let's do it."

OoOoOoOoO

Amy was sitting in her little living-room, waiting for her ride. Magnus had told her that he would take care of transportation for her, but it was getting just a little late. She worked on trusting him, though, and tried to keep her eyes off the clock.

Then her phone buzzed. She scooped it up and looked at it, finding a message from a blocked number. "Good morning, pretty lady." She read, "Your rides are here, and you have a choice between gorgeous gold and smexy red." She smiled. That would be the twins. It was kind of funny, now, since they'd been taking turns masquerading as her car all along. "I'll be right there." She replied then gathered up her notebook and purse.

Before going to open the door, she peeked out the window. She clapped a hand over her mouth at what she saw. She wanted to both laugh and squeal with delight; she thought she probably shouldn't laugh, though. They might feel insulted if she laughed, and she wouldn't want that. This was too great-!

She hurried outside and nearly ran over to the two cars.

"Twins!" she greeted joyfully, fairly bouncing on her toes, "I love you two! This is so awesome! You're my favorite!" She was gushing, she knew, but she couldn't help it.

The twins seemed to pause; the cars lowered on their springs a little.

"Your favorite car is a _Ford_?" The golden Mustang asked in a low voice.

"Is there something wrong with that?" Amy asked, her eyes taking in the twins like eye-candy.

"We… just like Corvettes and Lamborghinis and such better." The red Mustang said, keeping his voice down as well.

Amy bent over and hugged his fender quickly. "I like those ones, too, but I've wanted a Ford Mustang ever since I was little."

"Well… now you have two." Sunny said, sagging on his springs a little more.

Indeed.

The twins had reformatted from Corvettes into Ford Mustangs. They'd kept their colors, of course. Nothing in the world would have convinced Sunny to give up his gorgeous golden tones, and Sides wasn't about to part with his rich deep red. They both had added ghost flames, though, and the effect was dazzling.

"They're the most beautiful Mustangs I could have asked for." Amy told the twins sincerely. She had a feeling that they were not entirely thrilled with being Mustangs; praise would help them cope with it.

"Really?" Sunny asked, halfway perking up.

"You better believe it." Amy told him, touching this chrome on his grill. "You guys are gorgeous."

They purred a little. Nothing worked wonders with them quite the way praise did.

"Thanks…." Sunny said.

"Check out our backsides." Sides said with anticipation.

Sunny choked.

Amy spluttered, "W-What?!"

"I didn't mean it _that_ way." Sides said. "Puh-_leaze_."

"What my brilliant twin meant was, go around and look at us from behind." Sunny said drily.

"Oh-okay." Amy said. She went around behind Sides. A little laugh of delight escaped her then. "Oh, Sides!" She laughed, "You didn't have to do that." She said, clearly pleased.

Sides flashed one light at Sunny, winking at him as if to say "I told you so."

"Aw, we thought as long as we had to be Mustangs, we might as well put pink horse decals on our rear windshields." Sides said nonchalantly. He was delighted. Magnus hadn't thought of it, and Amy liked it.

"We? You _both_ did?"

"Uh-huh." Sunny said with a groan, "Sides talked me into it."

Amy went around and behind Sunny. Indeed, he too had a pink Mustang decal on his rear windshield.

"Sunny!" she laughed with delight, "You guys are awesome."

They smiled inwardly. If she was this delighted with them, then they could live with having Mustang alt-modes. She'd probably even defend them if someone poked fun at them. This thought made them even happier.

"Okay, so who do you choose to ride first?" Sides asked.

Amy paused. Sunny's color of gold looked absolutely marvelous on a Mustang, but she actually thought Sides' red looked better. On impulse, for looks, she would have chosen Sides, but these cars had feelings. Sunny seemed less happy about being a Mustang than Sides did, and she knew he cared a great deal about his looks, a bit more than Sides did. She needed to consider his feelings. If she chose him, it would probably comfort him about having to be a Mustang. And Sides would understand.

"It's a really tough call…" Amy said slowly, "But… I'm going to go… with… Sunny."

Pride and delight radiated off the golden bot like sunshine, and she knew she'd made the right choice. Sides purred with approval, pleased with her choice; he knew his brother would have been a little hurt if she'd chosen differently. Sunny revved his Ford Mustang engine and opened a door for her.

She thanked him sincerely and warmly as she got in, knowing it was a form of praise. She grinned as she looked around at the deluxe interior. Sunny hadn't just gone with the basic Mustang; he'd gone full out. If there was an extra nice feature, then he had it. "Classy." She said, "This is really classy, Sunny."

He chuckled. "Classy Sunny." He said. He gave his engine another rev, and then he headed down the street with Sides at his tail. "All the same," he said seriously, "We're taking back-ways so we won't be seen until later. Auri nearly laughed herself sick when she saw the plan for us. Even Prowl chuckled. So, it's going to be bad."

"Is it?" Amy asked softly, suddenly having misgivings. She didn't want the twins to suffer any more; Prowl's beating had been more than enough in her eyes.

"Yeah." Sunny said quietly, almost sullenly, "What would you think? We pride ourselves on choosing the most exquisite high-end cars, and now we're going to show up as Mustangs. Fords. Cars you see every single day on the street. When Auri saw the plan, she laughed so hard that she fell down on her little behind. Even _Prowl_ chuckled. We're going to be laughingstock."

Amy mulled this over for a couple seconds. "Sunny," she said gently, "I love the Mustang deal, but I don't want you guys to be miserable. If you don't want to be Mustangs, you don't have to be Mustangs for my sake. I know you're sorry about framing me; you don't have to do any more."

Sunny was quiet for about half a block.

"Thank-you." He said, "But, Ultra Magnus is calling the shots. He said we had to be Mustangs for you, or he would find something else that we'd like less."

"I'll ask him to let you guys off." Amy said as she repressed a smile. Magnus. He'd been present when she'd said that she'd always wanted a Mustang. That truck.

"He'll say no." Sunny said,

"I can argue,"

"Not with Magnus, you can't. Besides, he'll know we said something about it, and he'll think we're trying to get out of punishment. Just don't. We can take it, anyway. We can always turn a joke around and put it on the other guy."

Amy wondered if Sunny really meant it, but she decided that she would let it be.

After taking a very circuitous route, the twins came to a halt in an alleyway.

"End of the road." Sunny said. "We transform here and won't drop back into car-mode until after the apologies."

"Okay." Amy said, suddenly starting to feel a little nervous. She got out, and Sunny transformed. Looking up at him, she could see that his armor looked different now.

Sunny grinned down at her and posed. "Got a nice body, don't I?"

Amy chuckled, amused at his ever-present ego. "It's okay I guess." She said with a shrug. Then she winked up at him make she he knew she was just teasing him.

The grin grew.

"Okay, break it up, you two." Sides said, growing serious. "We have three minutes."

They walked out into the square, Amy feeling quite small walking between the twins. She felt absolutely nervous now; she wasn't sure why, though. She just had to accept the twins' apologies, not make any herself. There was a giant audience, though, giant in more than one way. Perhaps the numbers weren't all that high, but the bots were all so big, and gathered together like this, they seemed even larger and almost frightening.

Amy hoped this wouldn't take long.

There was a platform at the edge of the square, and that was where they were, overlooking the crowd a bit. Magnus and Prime were to the side of the platform, as was Prowl, with Auri near his side, his little assistant.

The twins and Amy were at the center of the platform now, and the crowd had gotten quiet, expectant. Amy could tell that some of the bots near the front were eyeing the twins' armor.

Sunny motioned for silence, and all sound died away. Amy swallowed uneasily, unnerved by how quiet it was; even when people were quiet, it wasn't this quiet.

Sunny began to speak in Cybertronian, and then he stopped.

Amy looked up, wondering why, but then Sides spoke in English. "My kith and kin, dwellers from my own planet, and my allies, dwellers of this land,"

Sunny spoke some more, and then Sides gave the translation. They went on in this manner, Sunny stopping after each paragraph, and Sides translating.

"We have encountered many difficulties dwelling on earth, and our days here have not been easy, yet we have found many delights and good things here as well. We have found a home where we are welcomed and loved. Our human allies have been true friends, and we are honored to have them on our side and among our ranks. Relations with liaisons, however, have not been lights to our optics but dark shadows.

"Many of you will know of the harsh falsehoods that some liaisons have slandered us with, and others may have heard how hurtful words came from other liaisons' mouths. Early in our days on earth, we were too trustful at times; before we learned to be careful around liaisons, we picked up a book with too harsh a lesson for us. Once broken by this harsh and cruel teacher, my brother and I resolved to never online such a book again; trust was not to be issued to another liaison.

"Our little sister, Aurion, the light of our optics came after some years, and we saw her learn little lessons. Fear grew in our sparks when she was promoted to handle a liaison. We feared she would receive the same bitter lesson that we had learned; we feared she would but hurt too badly. Thus we resolved to chase her liaison away before damage could occur.

"Hours and hours we spent to ensure ruin upon this liaison's head; plot and scheme were poured forth to make her rage and quit. Deception and trickery of many manners were employed, but she endured. She had persistence; she had come to learn about us for our benefit, and she was determined to not give up. We began to respect her for her determination and her patience. We began to realize that she wanted to help us. We realized how wrong we had been.

"We stand before her today and acknowledge how wrong we were to treat her as we did, and we come to apologize for our treatment of her."

The twins turned towards Amy and knelt. "Agent Amy Sora, you came for our benefit, but we sought to undermine and hurt you. We did not understand, but now you have shown us your character and won our respect. We now humbly apologize and ask your forgiveness for our wrongs against you."

Amy paused for a moment to make sure she got her words right. She had spent quite a bit of time planning what she would say; it wouldn't do to mess it up.

"Twins," she said, "I accept your apology, and freely do I forgive you. You tested me to my limits, but your testing taught me about myself as well as about you. I came to learn about you, and I have learned much; I would be honored to call you friends."

"That honor would be ours." Sides said, and Sunny nodded. They rose.

Sunny addressed the crowd of bots again. "My brother and I have made a full report of our malicious mischief and deceptions, and it is available for review. We both declare Agent Sora to be an upright and empathetic human whom we ought to trust and do trust. Do not treat her as we have. Embrace her and let her learn from you." He finished and looked at Sides.

Sides gusted a little air through his cooling system. "In an act of reparation," he said, "Sunny and I are going to serve as Agent Sora's transportation for the duration of her stay. Furthermore," he paused, "Furthermore, we are taking as our alt-modes her favorite make and model." Pained pause. "The Ford Mustang."

Prime gave the audience a stern look and little snickers died quickly.

Prowl stepped forward then, surprising the twins. He hadn't been in their plans for the apology; technically, the ordeal was supposed to be over with and everybody was supposed to be leaving about now.

Sunny gave the officer a look that said, "What are doing?" but Prowl merely gave him a brief nod signaling that everything was fine.

"A temporary law has been added to the books this morning." Prowl paused and looked over the assembled bots. "It states that anyone, _anyone at all_, who laughs at, teases, mocks, or taunts the twins, or in any other way treats them unkindly in regards to their change of alt-mode will be punished. This punishment will be as follows: the offender will be required to take a different alt-mode. The offender may be required to choose a different brand, model, or year than preferred, and/or, the twins may choose the offender's alt-mode if the offence is deemed severe enough. Finally, the duration of this penalty will vary depending on the severity of the unkindness towards the twins."

The twins eyed him in amazement. He was a genius. Early, early that morning he'd said that he'd be hard-pressed to keep anybody from laughing at them, but now he had a sure-fire deterrent. Bots tended to dislike changing alt-modes unless it was of their own free will, and if there was a possibility that the _twins_ might be allowed to choose the alt-mode, the twins were practically guaranteed protection from any kind of harassment.

Sides' optics twinkled suddenly. "Is this law retroactive?"

Prowl met his optics and concealed a smile. "No, Sideswipe, it is not." He replied smoothly.

"Okay." The twin said. It had been worth a try. He would have loved it, though, if Prowl had been forced to change his alt-mode because he'd chuckled at them that morning, but Prowl was smart. He'd keep his tail covered. No retroactive laws for crimes he'd committed.

"That is all I have to say." Prowl said. He gave the audience and the twins a brief nod and then went to stand to the side.

"And that is all we have to say." Sunny said to the audience. He and Sides bowed.

"Any questions?" Prime asked.

The twins froze. Prime asking "any questions?" was_ certainly_ not on their plan.

"Aiyyyy, no questions." Sides objected.

"Cowboy up and take it." Prowl said curtly. He hated complainers, especially when they were disrupting his morning work schedule.

A low hum came from the audience. Prowl froze. He'd done it. His word choice had directly related to the twins' Mustang theme. He hadn't meant to; he'd just been thinking about various ways _other bots_ might harass the twins subtly, and the words had slipped out of his mouth when Sides had complained.

He shifted his optics and looked around. Everyone was eyeing him expectantly, and Auri was staring at him with her mouth open in that adorable little surprised "o" shape.

"That was purely unintentional." Prowl said guardedly.

"It was a slip." Sides said,

"And a slip means you were thinking it." Sunny pointed out.

"Guilty." Sides decreed.

Prowl glanced down. He would just have to take it. "I will accept your charges." He said after a pause.

"With us being Mustangs," Sunny said, "There's a shortage of Corvettes on this base." He gave Prowl a meaningful look.

Prowl looked to Sides, and the red twin nodded.

"As the twins please," Prowl said slowly, with the upmost reluctance, "I will… I will take a Corvette as my alt-mode." He would feel horribly conspicuous. He would _be_ horribly conspicuous. He hated being conspicuous. Rules were rules, though. He nodded.

The twins transformed down into Mustangs, and a few bots murmured with approval. Prowl took out his data-pad and accessed the bots' specs for various alt-modes. A couple moments later, he uploaded the specs for a Corvette and then put his data-pad away.

He shot Prime a look then, and it was not unlike the one of someone who was about to jump into a very cold lake. He paused for another moment, and then he transformed into a Corvette.

Chromia wolf-whistled at him, and he saw a number of smirks or smiles on the faces of his fellows. He hated this sort of attention. He only wanted attention if he was given a speech, and this for sure was not a speech. He wanted to sink down into the earth now and resurface somewhere where nobody was… perhaps in his quarters with the door locked and double-checked.

"Hey," Sunny said in a low voice that the crowd couldn't hear, "You can 'rock' it." He was using Prowl's own words of encouragement from the morning, and he was almost using Prowl's gentle encouraging tone. "Find the old Prowl and let him strut a little."

Prowl sunk on his axles a little. The old Prowl, as Sunny had put it, had way too many agonizing memories attached to him.

"C'mon. You can do it." Sunny murmured.

Prowl gave his Corvette engine a small rev and then louder one. He didn't know what to do next, though, and everybody was still watching him. He gave the engine a slow rev that increased in volume, and then he drove away. He would be at his office.

"So," Sunny said, "No questions? Okay, let's go then." He opened a door for Amy and closed it as soon as she was in, and then he drove off, Sides on his tail.

The twins headed out to the playground, and once they arrived, Sunny let Amy out, and he and Sides transformed. The twins paused for three seconds, and then they broke into laughter, whooping with glee.

Amy watched them and smiled a bit, yet she wasn't entirely sure what was so funny.

"Okay, share." She said once they calmed down a little.

"We're just happy, is all." Sides said, "Happy with relief, I guess. The apology is over, Prowl actually found a way to keep the others from picking on us, and… Prowl's a Corvette!"

Amy gave him a reproachful look. "I really think he didn't like that at all." She said, "And he implemented that rule just for you two. I think it was ungrateful of you two to make him change his alt-mode."

The twins paused and looked at each other.

"Maybe it was…" Sides said slowly, "But, he made the rule, and he's one of the highest officers there, and he broke the rule, albeit mildly and unintentionally, in public. If he'd broken it like that when just us were around, we woulda harassed him a little and then let him off. _Everybody_ was there, though, so we had to make sure that he got the message across that the rule was dead serious."

Amy mulled this over for a couple moments then nodded. "Okay, I get that." She said, "But, did you really have to make him choose a Corvette?"

The twins looked at each other, mischievous smiles spreading over their faces. "Nah," Sunny said, "But it surrre was fun."


	86. Chapter 86, Driftwood

Chapter 86

**Driftwood**

On returning to the office, Auri found the door locked, and her wings gave a little irritated twitch. Prowl, she decided, was being down right unreliable today. First he slept in, and second he slipped up and got publically punished for telling the Mustang twins to "cowboy up." And now the office was locked, and who knew where he could be. Ratchet had told her that Prowl's behavior might be a little off, but this was not what she'd been expecting. She'd expected him to be more obsessive-compulsive, not negligent.

She sighed and unlocked the door to go in; she would take care of the office until Prowl reappeared. And _someone_ was going to ask Ironhide to tell Prime that his Second-in-Command really needed a break even though he was off medical leave. Prowl never allowed that he was tired, but now he clearly was.

Auri paused once she stepped inside. There was Prowl, but he didn't look up; he wasn't even working. His arms were on the desk, and his face was down on them; his wings were down, too.

Auri's wings lowered at this sorry sight. Why was it that he never took a break until long after he needed one? It made her spark ache to see her friend like this. She couldn't take it. She _wouldn't_ take it.

"Prowl, you don't know what's good for you." She said firmly.

"Ten minutes." Prowl said from the depths of his arms.

He needed a lot more than ten minutes, she thought. She frowned uneasily and went over to the desk.

"Minutes." Prowl said, "Not seconds."

Auri wondered momentarily if he was being funny. Then she reached out and put her hand on the phone, watching Prowl. She curled her fingers cautiously around the handset, and her spark pulsed faster. She was going to commit an act of insubordination, and it was a scary thing to do.

It was also a little drastic. Really, she could just slip out and tell Ratchet that Prowl needed to break, and Ratchet would come over with all his medical power and take care of things. Or she could tell Ironhide; that had been the plan earlier.

She paused. Prowl needed to _see_ how serious this was, though. If she just told on him, he'd be a little aggravated, and then he'd submit to medical expertise. If she crossed him, he'd be displeased with her, and he'd reprimand her, but she would argue, and she'd be able to show how upset she was, and then he'd see how serious things were.

At least… she _hoped_ that's how it would work.

She bit her lip uneasily. If it didn't work, she could always crumple up on the floor and start crying. That, she knew, would work.

The phone made a soft little "click" when she lifted the handset, and Prowl's right wing came up a fraction of a centimeter. He knew she had the phone now.

Auri punched in the number nervous but steady fingers, and she knew Prowl would know the number from the tones that each digit made.

"Hello," Magnus said, doing away with the formal intro since he had Prowl's office on caller-ID.

"H-hi, Magnus," Auri said, "C-can you take the calls for Prowl's office for the next three hours?"

Prowl head came up, his optics accusing. He sat up.

Auri looked away.

"Yes, I can." Magnus said, "Is everything alright?"

"Thank-you," Auri said, "We just need some time not interrupted by phone-calls. You know how disruptive they can be."

There was a pause on Magnus's end of the line. He knew she wasn't telling the whole truth. "I know a lot of things." He said meaningfully. "Take care. Will that be all?"

Auri nodded. "Yes, sir. Thank-you again. Good bye."

"Good bye." Magnus said. ::What was that about?:: he asked Auri immediately over the intercom.

::Prowl needs a break.:: Auri replied, ::He's going to chew me out now, so I'll have to talk later.:: Auri cut the connection with that.

Auri turned to Prowl cautiously and met his optics hesitantly. "We are taking a break." She said.

Prowl didn't say anything but cocked his head to the side a little.

Auri didn't know what to do with that. It wasn't like she could argue with a head movement. Or could she? She nodded. "We are." She reiterated.

Prowl studied the fascinating little creature before him and wondered what to do with her. There was a myriad of ways he might respond, and most of them would be right or just. He could tell her firmly that she was stepping out of her place. He could pretend to be surprised that she was suddenly in command… 'O_h, I was not aware that you had been promoted to be my commanding officer…!_' Or he could ask her quietly what she thought she was doing. He paused. What _was_ she doing?

He cocked his head the other way, watching to see what her response would be. She seemed uncertain, but she nodded her head slightly. He knew she was smart (he wouldn't have kept her if she hadn't been), so he knew that she knew she could call Ratchet in to make him take a break. Why do it herself and risk reprimand? He paused and thought about her… and him… and how things worked between them.

A scene, he realized; she wanted a scene. Scenes had always worked in the past.

He smiled ever so slightly. "You are a dramatic little femme," he said; his tone was one of discovery. He'd just realized it.

Auri's wings drew upwards a little. "Maybe," she said, looking confused by his response. This wasn't at _all_ what she'd been expecting. "But, we _are_ taking a break."

He stood up, and she backed away automatically. Then she firmed and stepped forwards. '_No backing down…I hope…_' her body language said.

"You think causing a conflict and making a scene between us will prove your point better than calling in Ratchet." He said, half-guessing, still sorting things out. His helm ached.

Auri looked down, guilty. "Yes…" she said in a little voice.

Prowl came around his desk to her side of it. She shifted a little and staying facing him; she was respectful, but still unwilling to back down.

"No more underhanded tricks, Aurion." He told her gently, and she looked down. He went on. "You made your point with one today, phoning Magnus like that, but do not do that again."

"Yes, sir." She said softly. "But, how can I get you to see that you _have_ to take a break? Ratchet can make you take one, but you just do it begrudgingly. Prowl, it's not even _logical_ to work so hard that you crash!"

Prowl lowered his head, hiding a grimace at her last sentence.

"Explain that!" she made a frustrated little motion with her hands and wings.

"It is a different logic." he said slowly, "A warped logic. It… it is a warped logic that says if I keep myself over-occupied with work, then I will have no time or energy to remember all my pain and losses. It is how I cope."

Auri looked at him, troubled by this.

"It is in a tenuous balance, regretfully." he added, "It is when there are extra things that I have to deal with that I crash. As you see now."

Auri looked down, saddened. Then she looked back at him and crossed her arms. "That's not healthy, Prowl." She told him reproachfully.

"No, but I will take crashing from overwork any day over going insane from grief. Aurion, you cannot comprehend the grief that I have buried in me."

Auri crossed her arms and looked down at her fingers, clasping them lightly. "I… I guess not."

Prowl studied her for a couple moments then said, "Now, I believe someone told me that we are a taking break."

Auri kept her optics down; she knew she should get words for stepping out of line.

"And while that someone was not my commanding officer, I believe she had a good point."

Auri peeked up at Prowl when she heard that, and she found that him directing a gentle half-smile her way.

"I know a good place for breaks," She said, her optics twinkling, "The beach."

Prowl nodded his head, yes.

Auri grinned. She knew the beach was one of his favorite places.

They left the office, Prowl locked the door, and then they stopped at the road. Auri looked up at Prowl questioningly when he didn't do anything.

"I forgot that I was supposed to speak Praxian dialect to you." Prowl said tiredly.

"I forgot, too." Auri said, "We will have to remember when we come back."

Prowl nodded and looked at the road like it was coated with acid or something pain-inducing.

"I don't think anyone will tease you about being a Corvette." Auri said softly. "They really do respect you a great deal, and Chromia just whistled because she's like that."

"I just hate being conspicuous." Prowl said, wincing at the thought. He felt his mind slipping downwards into some sort of black hole where he couldn't cope with anything.

Auri paused. A little silliness might help things, she thought. She pointed her forefinger at him. "Cowboy up, and transform." She ordered briskly.

Prowl's wings twitched up and back, and he blinked. "Wh… w-h…ah-t…?"

Auri sighed. That hadn't done _any_ good. Really, though, she knew that she knew better than to try silliness with Prowl. "Why don't we just walk." She said then started towards the curb. Prowl didn't come. "No?"

"You give me helm-aches, Aurion, like no other." Prowl couldn't figure out why she'd said what she'd said, and he couldn't decide whether walking was worse or if driving was worse.

Auri came back, took his hand, and put a penny in its palm.

Prowl stared at the tiny coin. "What…?" he felt like he was going to glitch out soon…

"You toss it." Auri said, "Heads, you walk; tails, you drive. It's simple."

Prowl shifted his optics from the coin to her. He thought about intercomming Ratchet.

Auri sighed and took the penny back. She tossed it, caught it, and looked at it. "Oh, there: tails." She said. She transformed.

Prowl knew his helm-ache wouldn't get any better if he stood there and tried to figure things out, and his system wasn't quite to the brink of glitching out, so he calculated that just doing as Auri said would be easiest. He transformed and felt infinitely worse.

"We will take back ways." He told Auri, then pulled in front of her and drove off.

"Yes, sir." She said, falling in behind him.

He nearly hit the curb and flinched away from it. '_Get yourself together._' he told himself, and he did.

Auri decided that it was the most circuitous route to the beach _ever_, but they finally got to the dirt part of the road where they stopped driving and began walking.

"I was a bit of a sparkling back there." Prowl said reluctantly as they started walking. His helm still ached, but he'd settled the rest of its problems.

"You had just too much to deal with back there." Auri said, "Ratchet said that sort of thing sometimes sends you into regression."

Prowl paused minutely. "Ratchet…?"

"You are not the most understandable of all bots, Prowl. Ratchet explains you to me sometimes."

"Ah…" Prowl said then fell into thoughtful silence. Maybe, he thought, maybe he should have Ratchet explain Auri to him some time. Ironhide had told him that he'd never understand Auri fully because she was a femme and he was a mech, but there were some things that he could understand that he didn't.

And he suddenly realized that Auri had continued talking.

"… 's rather surprising all he knows about a bot, even me, for instance. He knows stuff about me that I didn't even know, like how I work in certain ways. I think he's partially a psychologist as well as a medic. But he has _some_ things wrong about me. We still argue about my sparkling-hood, and he still thinks I was neglected, but I wasn't."

Prowl had heard about this argument more than once. "I am sure it is aggravating." he said, but he felt that Ratchet was probably the right one in that argument.

"Beach!" Auri cheered as the dirt road gave way to sand. She jumped to the sand and danced on it a moment before running towards the water. She turned and pranced backwards, "Come on, come on, Prowl!" she called, as if she thought he would run too.

He shook his head and kept walking.

She waited until he caught up with her, and then she poked his arm. "You is incorrigible."

"No baby-talk." Prowl told her, and she smiled up at him agreeably.

They walked side by side then down to the place above where the dry sand met the wet sand. There Prowl sat down; Auri went on down to the water, though. She would play with the wet sand a bit while Prowl relaxed. Then they would talk about various things. That was what they did when they came to the beach.

Auri finished building two sandcastles and rinsed off in the waves before coming back to Prowl. He was lying down in the sand now, his head pillowed on his arms. Auri crouched down and peeked at his face; his optics were closed.

"Recharging." Auri said then sat down beside him. She picked up a piece of driftwood and dragged it in the sand, back and forth, back and forth. Then she put it on Prowl's shoulder on a whim.

"Hmm…" Prowl's wings shifted up, and then he shifted and blinked his optics open.

"Hello, sleepy-helm,"

"Hello," Prowl said, his voice a little growly. He cleared his vocal-processor then frowned lightly as he removed the piece of driftwood from his shoulder. "I did not need that." He said, sitting up.

"Sure you did." Auri said with a playful smile.

Prowl looked over at her. "What is on the table for discussion now?" he asked, knowing she usually came up with some interesting and random things to talk about. He was surprised when her expression grew very serious.

"I think we need to talk about the Second-in-Command." She said, looking down.

Prowl clasped his hands. "What about the Second-in-Command?" he asked respectfully.

"Well…" Auri looked concerned and lowered her optics. She poked the sand a little with her finger and unearthed a smooth chunk of glass. "He overworks for a reason, and I guess that's okay for now. But, when he crashes, he gets unreasonable and doesn't realize that he needs to take a break." She turned the glass over in her fingers.

"So," Prowl said slowly, "We need to find a way to let him know that he needs to take a break…?" it was odd to talk about himself in the third person, but somehow it helped him think more objectively.

Auri nodded. "Just telling him doesn't work, though, you know."

Prowl nodded, and then they were quiet. Auri fingered her piece of glass, and Prowl watched as he thought for possible solutions. After a couple minutes, he looked down to see what he had in his hand and realized that he'd never dropped the piece of driftwood.

"What if we have a signal." He said,

Auri looked up from her glass pebble. "What do you mean?" she asked, puzzled.

"Have you seen or heard Ironhide and Chromia when they are disagreeing?"

Auri nodded.

"When the disagreement starts to get overly heated, what happens?"

"Ironhide, or sometimes Chromia, will say 'guns down' and make a hand motion with palms down, and they'll cool off."

Prowl nodded. "Exactly. That is their signal. They say 'guns down,' but it _means_ 'we are getting too riled up; we need to take a break and cool it before we get into a serious fight.' They both agreed on it, and they respect it. We could do something similar for m- er, the Second-in-Command."

Auri nodded. "I like that idea. So, we'll have a word or phrase agreed on that will mean, 'Prowl, you have reached your limit; you need to take a break now before things get too bad for you.'"

Prowl half-smiled. "Agreed." He said.

"Okay. So, what word shall we have? Something you can relate to… but not a word we use a lot…"

Prowl paused, "Driftwood." he said, his optics almost twinkling.

Auri giggled in delight. "I like that. And it will be easy to remember."

"Very good." Prowl said, "Our signal will be 'driftwood.'"

Auri nodded in agreement.

"Now what?" Prowl asked,

"Why have you never decorated your quarters?"

Prowl's wings lowered. "I never wanted to." He said quietly, and she knew he didn't want to talk about it.

Auri nodded her understanding.

"Can I start learning Praxian right now?" she asked a couple moments later.

Prowl paused. "Yes." He said then looked thoughtful. Auri watched him attentively, waiting. He deliberated about how to go about the lesson; he'd never taught anybody a language. They would start with the building blocks of words, he supposed. "We will begin with the alphabet." He told Auri, "Get out a data-pad." He directed as he took out one of his. Auri obeyed promptly and scooted over a little closer as he took out a stylus for writing.

"_Praxian-has 42 alphabet characters_," Prowl said in Praxian dialect. Auri hesitated as she tried to figure just what he'd said. He translated for her then.

"More characters than Cy-Stan." Auri commented when she understood. Prowl nodded.

"_First…_" Prowl carefully drew the first letter on his data-pad. Auri scooted some more so that she was right next to him, her wing almost grazing his as she watched him draw the letter. He had Auri copy the letter on her data-pad, and she had to erase it and try several times before Prowl realized that that wasn't going to work.

"Here, trace it on my data-pad first." Prowl said, holding his data-pad for her to take. Taking it, she carefully traced the character once then twice. Then she drew it on her own data-pad.

"That is more accurate now." Prowl said, gently taking both data-pads. He drew the letter on Auri's data-pad then handed it back to her.

"This is going long time," Auri said with a rueful chuckle.

"_It will go more quickly once you-become accustomed to the style._"

After a little while, they moved on to the second letter of the Praxian alphabet. It took longer than the first, but then the third letter was almost easy.

Prowl made Auri repeat the names of the three letters until she could pronounce them correctly.

"_Good_." Prowl said once Auri got them right several times in a row. Then they went on to the next three.

Prowl's wings shifted as the sensors in them picked up something approaching from behind. Twins. He didn't need the twins ruining his day some more, again. The twins didn't move, though. Prowl kept teaching, but he began assessing the situation. The twins were spying on them, or his sensors were sending him erroneous data.

He turned deliberately and looked in the twins' direction. They were lying just behind the hill, peeking at them. They ducked when they saw him turn.

"Bad twins." Auri said, getting up. "Imma tell them to mind their own." She said a little crossly.

Prowl opened his mouth to rebuke her tone, but no words came out. She went off, tromping up the hill.

"Twins-!" She reprimanded when she got close.

They sat up. "Hello,"

"Snoops." Auri said, crossing her arms. "Don't you have better stuff to be doing than interrupting my alphabet lesson?"

"Your _alphabet_ lesson?" the twins stared.

"My Praxian alphabet lesson." Auri clarified, "I never learned Praxian, so Prowl is teaching me now."

"Wonders… never cease to exist…" Sides said slowly. "That's… that's really nice of him." The twin's tone was soft with amazement; he knew Prowl hadn't said a word of Praxian since Bee's vocalizer had gotten damaged, and he knew Prowl didn't get over things very easily.

Auri nodded.

"Well, we should go then." Sunny said, motioning his twin away.

"Hey, where's Amy?" Auri asked as she realized that the woman had been with the twins the last time she'd seen her.

"We left her with Ultra Magnus." Sides said, suddenly smirking. Sunny had a grin on his face now.

Auri gave them a dark look, "What did you two do?" she demanded.

"What do you mean?" Sides asked, throwing his hands up in a motion of ignorance.

"What do _you_ mean 'What do you mean'?!" Auri exclaimed, "You-"

"Is there a problem?" Prowl asked, approaching.

"Auri thinks we must have done something awful to Magnus because we smirked when we mentioned him." Sides said,

"Given your histories, she has good reason." Prowl said, "Well?"

"We just smirked because his alt-mode isn't a 1980's Mack anymore." Sunny said.

Prowl's wings lifted.

"What did he say?" Auri said protectively.

"He said, 'For Mustangs, you sure act like a couple of jack-' and you don't need to hear the rest of the word."

Auri debated how to respond to this.

Prowl gave the twins a long-suffering look. "Twins,"

"Yes, sir?"

"Please stop being helm-aches. Just, please, please stop being helm-aches. Go paint or game video games or do something else harmless, but please, stop causing trouble for just one day."

The twins looked down as they realized just how much stress and trouble they had added to Prowl's life the past couple weeks. It was a wonder he hadn't thrown them in the brig, actually.

Sides nodded. "Okay, Prowl." He said understandingly, "We won't cause any more trouble today."

"Thank-you." Prowl said, and with that, the twins turned and headed off, walking down the road.

The two door-wingers went back to their place on the beach and resumed their Praxian lesson. Auri knew about a tenth of the Praxian alphabet by the time Prowl said they had to go back to the office, and she was happy about that but hungry for more.

"Can you teach me some words?" she asked as they walked back to the office,

"_Yes, no; please, thank-you; hello, good-bye._" Prowl said then translated.

Auri could say 'yes' and 'no' by the time they got back to the office, but 'please' was just a little too hard for her to enunciate. "We can come back to it later," Prowl told her then sent her to work at her computer.

Amazingly, the rest of the day went smoothly without a single hitch or glitch, and Prowl felt practically relaxed by the time it was a quarter to six. He made a mental note to thank the twins later that evening.

"That was a good day," Auri said as she double-checked her past hour of work on the computer. She had spent a portion of her afternoon with Agent Sora but had spent the last two hours at the office.

"It was, actually." Prowl agreed cautiously, glancing at the clock; it was too soon to be saying that. Something could go badly in the next fifteen minutes.

Chromia came in. Something could _definitely_ go badly in the next fourteen minutes.

Auri greeted her femme-guardian warmly and gave her a hug, but Prowl braced himself.

"Hey," Chromia greeted Prowl gently,

"Hello," he said. They had thirteen minutes left.

"I just wanted to apologize for whistling at you this morning." She said off-handedly, "I know you don't like attention like that; I should have respected that."

"Apology accepted." Prowl said, giving her a bit of a half-smile.

"Corvette does look good on you, though." She told him.

He looked down and lifted his wings slightly.

Chromia smiled at that. "I'll leave you little wingers to your last bit of work." She said then headed out.

"Why…?" Auri groaned, "Why are we always called 'little'?"

"Because we _are_ somewhat shorter than a number of bots on this base." Prowl answered. "If we lived among other Praxians, we would not get called little."

"So, all Praxians are our size?"

"Most are." Prowl said. "We are done here now. I will lock up."

"Yes, commander." Auri said, "Good evening. Thank-you for the lessons."

"Have a good evening. And you are welcome; you are a good student."

That bit of praise delighted Auri to no end, and she smiled happily as she went to Amy's apartment. The liaison was going to spend the evening with her at Ironhide and Chromia's quarters, and Flareup would be there, too. Amy had said that she wanted to see some more of their family dynamics.

OoOoOoOoO

Dinner was over, and they migrated to the other side of the room. Chromia lifted Amy up and put her on the back of the couch. Amy smiled as she settled her back against the wall; it seemed like on the back of Cybertronian couches was always the best place for her. Ironhide and Chromia sat on opposite ends of the couch, and Auri flopped down to lie down between them.

Dinner had been enjoyable, and Amy had learned a bit more about Ironhide and Chromia, and Auri, too. She'd learned just a little more about Flareup, but the femme still wasn't warming up to her much. She'd tried asking a couple non-touchy questions, but Flareup had kept her answers brief with little optic-contact.

Amy looked over at the femme again. She was sitting on a stool that she dragged over from the table.

"Hey," Chromia said, drawing all attention to herself. "Flareup,"

Flareup looked over. "Chromia,"

Chromia smiled. "You should talk to Amy."

Flareup looked down. "You know I don't want to."

Chromia stretched a little. "I didn't want to either, but I did, and I found that she really is quite nice for a human."

"She wants to be friends with you," Auri told Flareup earnestly.

"She wants to study me like some mouse in a box, okay?" Flareup said resentfully, "Lay off me already."

"Whoa, hold it a minute." Ironhide said, "Her job is to study you like another sentient being so she can help humans and bots get along better."

"Po_tay_to, po_tah_to." Flareup said contemptuously, hunching her shoulders a little.

Chromia and Ironhide exchanged looks.

"Is this really about something else?" Ironhide asked. Chromia raised an optic-ridge, bemused at her mech.

Flareup shrugged. "Maybe."

"What _might_ it be about?"

"Like… the _last_ liaison who came here to figure us out."

Chromia growled a low vicious growl. "That _glitchehk_ was-"

"Ahem." Ironhide said meaningfully.

"Flareup," Amy said gently, "I am not like the last liaison. Not one bit. Have you read the twins' report on me?"

Flareup shook her head.

"Do you trust the twins?"

Flareup halfway smiled. "That's a weiiiird question to answer."

"Go talk to the twins." Chromia told Flareup, "Go ask them about Amy. Now."

"Yes, ma'am." Flareup said, getting up. She went to the door, glanced back, and then went out.

Twenty minutes later, she was back.

"Well?" Chromia said, eyeing her, gauging her attitude.

Flareup smiled reluctantly. "They said she's okay… and that I should talk to her."

"There." Ironhide said.

Flareup sat back on her stool and swung a foot.

"Tell her your first memory." Auri said, grinning,

"Please… that?" Flareup objected, making a face.

Ironhide chuckled. "She will enjoy it."

"Go on," Chromia said, "We've all told our first memories to her, and she's told hers."

Flareup frowned, "You've not even told _us_ your first memory." She said, sounding slightly betrayed.

"I have my reasons for telling her and not telling you." Chromia replied firmly, "And she's not allowed to tell anybody my story."

Auri and Flareup exchanged looks.

"Ohhhhkay." Flareup said. She swung her foot a little. "My first memory was when I was at day care. There was this little mech-ling there, and he thought he was the gift of Primus. Oh, he was cute alright, but he was just a little too pushy, and his favorite words were 'mine' and 'no.' I got tired of him at some point and decided that he wasn't going to push me around anymore. The next time he came over and grabbed one of my toys and 'no, mine,' and I jumped and yelled twice as loudly, 'no, mine!' Then we got into a heated argument about who was taller… for some reason."

"Biggest bot gets to give the orders." Ironhide said with a wink.

Flareup chuckled. "Well, that's how it ended. We stood nose to nose, and that didn't solve anything, so we stood there screeching at each other until a guardian came over and broke it up."

"And the moral of the story is," Chromia said, shooting Ironhide a teasing look, "Mechs are all-"

"Here now," Ironhide objected,

"Sparklings will be sparklings." Auri said with a final tone, "Well, Amy?"

Amy grinned, laughing, "I loved it." She said, "You two didn't start a fist-fight, though, you just screeched?"

"Yep." Flareup said, grinning smugly, "We were well-behaved little creatures who believed that things could be solved verbally and that fist-fights were for uncouth cretins."

Ironhide chuckled.

"And that puts you where, Ironhide?" Chromia asked, her optics twinkling with mischief.

"The same category you are in." he said with a wink.

Auri and Flareup whooped with glee at the mock-furious look Chromia gave her mech. It was all fun.

OoOoOoOoO

Sunny and Sides were lounging in their quarters, looking tired but content. They were going to go to the pub for Energon in a little while, but they felt like resting up a little first.

"Do you think…?"

"That's a dangerous question, Sides." Sunny interrupted.

"I'm just wondering how much trouble we'll get in."

"Oh," Sunny gazed at his data-pad, turning to the side a little. "He might not mind."

"Seriously? You're glitched in the head."

"And you're my brother."

Prowl knocked on the door.

"That's not his displeased knock." Sides said, getting up. He sauntered over and opened the door. "Good evening, Prowl." He said, "Come on in. To what do we owe this visit?"

Prowl came in as bidden. "Just for a moment." He said, "I simply wanted to thank you for staying out of trouble today and not causing any disruptions."

"Ah…" Sunny said, sitting up. "Uh, no problem. I mean, after all we've done, it's the least we could do."

"Yeah." Sides added. "We'll behave tomorrow, too."

Prowl raised an optic-ridge at him. "Thank-you." He said dubiously.

"We really aren't that bad, Prowl." Sunny said, spinning his data-pad between his fingers, and keeping his slightly shifty optics on it.

Prowl half smiled. "It is all relative, is it not?" he said.

"You wouldn't answer that, will you?" Sunny said, chuckling.

"No." Prowl said, "For fear I will have to eat my words."

"Logical." Sides said.

"Yes." Prowl said with a hint of a smile, "I am going to head back to my own quarters now. Good night."

"Good night, Prowl." Sunny said.

"Yeah, g'night." Sides added, shooting his twin a look behind Prowl's back.

Prowl transformed once he left the twins' quarters. It was quiet out now; not too many people or bots were roaming around. He rather liked the Corvette, he reflected. He would be used to it a day or two, he knew, and he wondered if he would end up keeping it. He might.

He drove off and wondered what the twins would think of that.

He unlocked his quarters, and before he even turned on the lights or stepped in, he knew something was different. He snapped the lights on and stiffened; someone had changed his quarters. He entered cautiously and closed the door behind himself as he looked around.

The walls were colored now. They started out blue at the floor but faded to white by the time that reached the ceiling, and the fading wasn't even; it created almost a flame design. In one corner near the ceiling, there was a stencil done in the darkest shade of blue, a stencil of the Praxian peace symbol. In another corner near the ceiling, there started the lines of a Praxian poem, and the words wound their way down the wall in a serpentine way, staying near the corner.

Prowl hesitated. He objected to anybody messing with anything of his, especially his personal dwelling. But… he liked the changes, and he knew they were holograph projections, so he could turn them off and everything would be normal again.

Who did it, though?

Auri wouldn't dare, so that left… the twins.

Was he mad or not? He couldn't figure out. He took a couple steps into the room, still looking around. They had clearly not touched anything; they'd just added the holo-décor. It _seemed_ alright.

Prowl jumped when he saw the plushie Autobot sitting on his couch. He wings twitched up, and he gusted cool air through his systems. Suddenly noticing the foreign item had started him; for a moment it had registered as a threat. It wasn't, though. It was just a plushie.

Prowl took a couple steps towards it, feeling slightly annoyed at it for startling him like that, slightly bothered that it was on his couch, slightly suspicious that it might be a trap of some sort, and quite puzzled at why it was holding a real data-pad on its lap.

He ventured close enough and reached for the data-pad, hoping that it wasn't a trap. If it was, he was going to kick those twins into the brig. He took the data-pad and eyed the innocent-looking blue-opticked plushie a moment before looking at the data-pad.

"Prowl," it read, "Quarters are a whole like nicer if they have a little color and someone to come home to. We promise we didn't prank anything. ~Twins"

Prowl looked back at the plushie. He had one question on his mind.

Why did the twins give him a plushie?!

Of all things!?

He twitched his wings then went and put the data-pad on his desk.

He knew Firestar had made the plushie. She liked making plushies. So, there was no doubt as to its origin; just, what was its intent?

He peered into his berth-room and found that the walls were the same as in the main room. He decided that he did like it, but he was still going to upgrade the lock on his door and add a third key-code.

He eyed the plushie again and got a cube of Energon. He sat at his table and took a sip of Energon, the plushie in full view huddled on the couch. Lonely.

Prowl sighed and put down the cube, went over and picked the plushie, and then brought it back and set it on the table.

Did they _know_, he wondered, that he had a soft place in his spark for plushies? He hoped they didn't.

He gave the little thing a thoughtful look.

"Drifter." He said. Then he sipped his Energon.

* * *

Credit for Flareup's first memory story goes to Alathea2. :)

Just so everyone knows, the next chapter is going to skip a head a little, and Amy is going to finish at NEST and leave. If there's some interaction that anyone was hoping to see with Amy that I didn't get in, "speak now or forever hold your peace," and I'll see about putting it in the next chapter before she leaves. Okay?


	87. Chapter 87, Farewells

Greetings! New chapter… finally. This thing… really, really didn't want to come together, and it's still a little jumpy, but… here it is…

* * *

Chapter 87

**Farewells**

"_Pillwo-fight, pillwo-fight, tan't catch me!" the tiny little femme-ling teased as she swung her pillow._

"_Oh, sure I tan." Little Prowlie replied, grinning as he plumped up his own pillow. "I is the bestest at pillow fights." _

"_No, you isn't. _I _is." She teased, her optics twinkling as she giggled. _

"_You a bratty-brat." Prowlie teased adoringly as he climbed over several giant pillows. "Imma get you-!" _

_She squealed and laughed and dodged as he tossed a small pillow her way. Then she threw one back at him. It barely missed him. _

"_Almost gotchya! Kiss for the winner!" _

_He grinned and scrambled down the hill of pillows to take on his opponent hand to hand. She squealed and blocked his light pillow blows, returning a couple of her own. _

_Eventually, he tripped backwards and landed on his behind. _

"_Thwack, smack!" she giggled, hugging her pillow, "Now whatchya say?" _

"_Imma still getchya." He said, chuckling back at her. He started to get up, but he couldn't. He looked, and his feet were caught, tangled up in twisted blankets. He grunted and tried harder, but he was stuck. _

"_Prwowl…?" she asked softly, looking troubled. Then she squealed as a giant hand swooped down and plucked her up. _

"_What's this?" the Decepticon asked, holding her and looking at her. _

"_No-!" Prowl cried out. _

"_Mine." The Decepticon said, starting to walk away with the femme-ling. _

"_Nooo-!" Prowlie screamed as he tried to free himself from the blankets. He kicked and flailed. He had to save her. He had to get her back. The hills of pillows started melting, coming towards him in a slow flood. He was sinking deeper and deeper. "Nohhhhhh-! N-"_

"Nff-" Prowl jerked his face up out of his pillow. It was just a nightmare, he realized. He was lying face-down on his berth in his quarters on NEST Base. He gusted cool air through his system, finding himself slightly overheated from the fear. The nightmare was just a nightmare, and it was gone for now.

Checking the time, he found that it was almost time to get up. He didn't wish to go back to recharge, so he rose and went into the main room of his quarters to get his breakfast.

He stopped when he saw the plushie on his desk. He'd put it on his desk before heading to bed, and then he'd forgotten about it. He realized, now, that the twins had probably given it to him to distract him from the walls. They had no doubt reasoned that if he was trying to figure out why he now had a plushie, the issue about the walls being blue would be less concerning. Well, it had worked.

And, he decided, he didn't _really_ have a soft spot in his spark for plushies. It was Auri. The plushie had reminded him of her and her little doll, Ever-Near. That was what had a soft place in his spark. _May_be.

He drank his morning Energon, and then he began running a soft polishing cloth over his armor.

::Prowl,:: Auri hailed him on the intercom.

::Good morning, Aurion.:: Prowl replied in a professional tone, ::Is there a problem?::

::Yes, sir.:: Auri replied, ::Streetwise, who just got back last night, put the twins in the brig.::

::Under what charges?:: Prowl asked, twisting a little to buff the edges of his wing.

::Charged with suspicious activity.::

::Oh. I will be at the brig in eight minutes and deal with them.::

::Thank-you, sir.:: Auri said, and then they signed off.

Prowl finished his buffing job and looked himself over in the mirror then headed out the door, locking it remotely. He hailed Streetwise on the intercom and told him to meet him at the brig.

Prowl arrived at the brig and found Auri waiting there, looking a little hesitant.

"Good morning," Prowl greeted her but gave her a slightly questioning look, "I did not say for you to be here."

"No, sir, but…" she hesitated, "I thought… I… would come anyway."

Prowl paused, considering what she had _really_ probably thought. In all likelihood, she had probably feared that he might give the twins another beating.

"Aurion, you need to be honest." He said quietly. "Yesterday, you were not frank with Ultra Magnus when he asked you what was going on. This morning, you are not being straightforward with me about why you are here." At these words, Auri's head lowered and she looked chastised, but Prowl went on. "These are mild forms of dishonesty, but if you culture mild dishonesty, it will quickly and easily grow into outright lying. You do not want that."

"No, sir." She said softly. "I do not want that. I'll be more careful."

Prowl gave her a shoulder a reassuring touch and then moved away as Streetwise approached.

"Good morning," Prowl greeted Streetwise, "Welcome back. Shall we get on with the twins?"

"By all means," Streetwise said, eyeing Prowl's armoring. "Did you change your alt-mode?"

"Yes." Prowl said briefly.

They went into where the twins were lounging around with their feet on the wall.

"Good morning, Prowl." Sunny said in a deadpan tone.

"Hello." Prowl said. "Streetwise, why did you brig the twins?"

"I got back late at eleven or so, and I saw them sneaking around in Mustang alt-modes, so I knew they were up to something." Streetwise answered, "I mean, you know the twins. Mustangs aren't cool enough for them. I was dead tired, and they tried to feed me some cock-n-bull story about Ultra Magnus, so I just arrested them for suspicious activity and knew we could take care of it in the morning."

"Twins?" Prowl repressed a smile as he turned to the smiling twosome.

"We weren't 'sneaking around.'" Sunny said, "We were merely driving just under the speed limit, and that was because we knew Chromia had watch in that part of the neighborhood. She'd warned us that she had brutal plans for us if she caught us breaking law on her watch, so we were being extra careful."

"Yep." Sides said, "And, remember, we told you we'd be good."

"I remember." Prowl said, "Very well. Not guilty. You may go free." He unlocked the door, and the twins sauntered out.

"No hard feelings," Sides told Streetwise, smacking his hand,

"Should hope not," Streetwise said with a chuckle, "I'll see you later. _Somebody_ woke me up early."

"Your fault for brigging us in the first place." Sunny teased as the three walked off.

Auri looked up at Prowl, waiting for him. He looked down at her with a half-smile. "Who knew alt-modes could be such a problem." He said.

Auri's optics twinkled as she grinned at that.

"It is early yet," Prowl said, moving towards to the door, "But I am going to go on to the office."

"May I come, too?"

"Would that be alright with your guardians?"

"Yes, sir." Auri said, smiling, "I think so, anyway. I've had breakfast."

"You," he held the door for her, "Are not the most logical little creature on base, but I think you are learning."

Auri tried not to beam like she'd been complimented, but she ended up grinning, and her optics certainly twinkled merrily. Then she repressed the grin and tried not to skip because she was walking with Prowl.

OoOoOoOoO

Sunny and Sides, true to their words, actually remained on their best behaviors for that day, and Prowl, and everybody, in fact, found it most refreshing. Never once did the twins land themselves in the brig or get into an argument or fight with anyone. No pranks were pulled.

That day would set the schedule for the rest of Amy's days at NEST, and it worked out nicely. The twins would pick her up in the morning, and they'd take her around for a couple hours, taking her to interview other bots, or just showing her around. Then she had a couple hours for lunch and to fill out her notes. Then Auri would pick her up for the afternoon and spend several hours with her, doing basically the same things the twins did, only in her own way. The dynamics between Auri and the other bots were naturally different than the dynamics between the twins and the other bots. When Amy was done with Auri, she would spend an hour or so with Ultra Magnus, and the mech, true to his word, would talk about some aspect of Cybertronian culture, or just explain anything that she wanted clarification about. Then he would take her back to her apartment so she could have dinner. Afterwards, the twins would take her to the lounge so she could watch various bots socialize in the evening.

"We'll pretend like we have a clean slate now." Sunny said that day, "So, this is your first day here."

"Ah… Okay." Amy said, deciding to go along with the twin's proposal. So, they called that the first day.

The next day, as Amy was walking to a restaurant for lunch, Chromia pulled up. "Hey, girl." She said by way of greeting.

"Hello," Amy greeted her with a friendly yet respectful tone.

"Your rides skip out on you?" the femme asked, almost semi-challengingly.

"No, they didn't." Amy said, "I decided that I wanted to eat out, but that was after I'd told them they could go."

"Okay. So… do you really wanna walk?"

"I wouldn't turn down a ride if that's what you're asking." Amy said with a smile.

"Eh… yeah." Chromia opened a door nonchalantly.

Amy got in and fastened her seatbelt, wondering what Chromia was doing this time. It seemed that Chromia didn't just do anything for the sake of doing it. There was always something else going on or attached to it.

"Was there something you wanted to say to me…?" Amy asked.

"I'm just keeping J-walkers and pedestrians off the streets, kiddo." Chromia's tone was standoffish now. Amy winced inwardly; she realized now that Chromia didn't want her hand forced. Chromia would talk when Chromia wanted to talk.

"Oh, well, I _try_ to not J-walk." Amy bantered a little, hoping to ease out of it, "And I try to be a good pedestrian, too."

"Trying counts a little, I guess." Chromia said, sounding fairly conciliated. "You try too hard with your clothes, though."

Amy looked down. "My… my… clothes?"

"Yeah, your clothes." Chromia rounded a corner, "Your silly synthetic costly dress pants with your dazzlingly simple button-down shirts, and _that_ type of shoes, and always something fancy dangling around your neck."

Amy felt her throat tighten a little at Chromia's blunt criticism, and she felt her necklace. It wasn't _that_ fancy, was it? She couldn't say anything and simply kept her eyes down on her outfit. She felt her face warming up.

"I know you're just _trying to be professional_ and all business-like with your formal stuff, but you're really just setting yourself above us and making a gap. Try wearing blue jeans for once, woman, if you really want to make nice. And for sense's sake, wear something decent on your feet."

Amy's cheeks were burning now.

"Is this the place you wanted?" Chromia asked.

Amy nodded without looking at it. "Th-ank-you." She managed to say as she climbed out. The door shut, and Chromia drove off without a word.

Amy pressed her fingers against her cheeks, wishing they would quit burning. She bit her lip. Chromia had all the tactfulness of a slap.

It was a well-meaning slap, though, Amy decided once she was sitting at a table, and it probably wasn't meant to sting as much as it had. Chromia got a bit offensive when she was defensive, and Amy could see how that might have been the case.

Once Amy finished her lunch, she went back to her apartment and changed into a pair of jeans and took off her necklace. '_You're too casual_.' A little voice in her head said, but she overrode it. She would try things Chromia's way and see how they worked. After all, if Chromia had thought it worth mentioning, she should do it.

By the end of the day, she'd found that Chromia had been right. There was a little less reticence on the bots' end when it came to talking with her once she dispensed with the typical liaison outfit. They talked more readily to a "normal" person than to a liaison. The next time she saw Chromia, Amy mouthed 'thank-you' to her with a nod, subtly motioning to her jeans. The femme half-shrugged, but gave her a bit of a smile. It was good.

OoOoOoOoO

Two weeks passed quickly, and Amy suddenly realized that she was going to be leaving soon. She'd been at NEST for over a month, but it had seemed like a much shorter time.

She began packing some of her things one day, mostly just clothes that she wouldn't be wearing until she got back, and somehow each outfit had a memory with it. As she packed, she reminisced over the good times that she'd had. Flareup had warmed up, and that had been nice. Magnus had been just wonderful about explaining things. The twins had been riotous fun, and they'd taken her racing. (She had always wanted drive a hundred miles per hour, and now she had). Bumblebee had been a marvelous friend, and he'd gotten other bots to warm up to her. Inferno had apologized for the time that he'd slighted her, and he'd made up for it in full. Auri had been a darling. Prowl had been Prowl.

Amy sighed, knowing she would miss all the bots. Mariah had said, though, that if NEST rated her well, she would be able to return. She was pretty sure she would get a positive rating. Apparently, previous liaisons (except for Mariah) had been voted down and kept from returning. She could be the first liaison to return. That would be wonderful. She'd like that.

She heard the twins rev their engines in the road, and she smiled. They'd been teasing her lately about how they couldn't wait for her to leave so they could change back into Corvettes. Honestly, though, she thought they rather enjoyed being Mustangs for a couple weeks. And there was no doubt that they enjoyed Prowl's rule; in fact, they'd made a list one afternoon of the alt-modes that they would choose for various bots _just in case_ those bots made any comments. Amy had read the list and laughed until she'd had a stitch in her side. The twins had seemed to take it as a great compliment. They were great, those two.

She sighed, knowing that she'd miss them. She would miss Magnus the most and the twins second most. Auri would be third. Chromia would be fourth. Of all the bots on base, that blue femme had Amy's respect the most, except for Prime. She was rough and tough, but kind in her own way, and loving to her family, intimidating, but not truly mean.

Amy went down, scooped up her phone and stuck in her pocket, and picked up her notebook. She'd dispensed with carrying around a purse and trying to keep track of it. The twins, and more importantly, Chromia, had approved.

"So, we're taking you to the airport now, right?" Sunny asked, teasing, as she came to the curb.

"Not for a couple days, my pretties; I get to torture you a few more times yet."Amy replied, teasing. The twins chortled at that, then Sides opened a door, and she got in. They had a couple more days left, and they were going to make the best of them.

OoOoOoOoO

"Aurion," Prowl said from his desk,

"Yes, sir?" Auri said, looking over from where she was working,

"You have not yet confirmed Agent Sora's departing flight."

Auri's door-wings pinned up and back. "She is not leaving, Prowl." She said, looking confused.

Prowl shook his head. "Yes," he told her, "She is leaving. She did extend her stay by several days, but she is leaving."

"No, she's not." Auri objected, looking a little more confused and then slightly upset.

"Yes, she-"

"No!" Auri argued, jumping down from the stool that she'd been sitting on, "She isn't leaving! She isn't!"

"Aurion," Prowl said, taken aback. Where had this come from? "Where did you get this idea?"

"It's NOT an idea! It's true! She isn't leaving! Why do you Autobots _always_ tell me false things and try to confuse me?! You're lying, Prowl, and you're being mean! Trying to confuse me! You stop it!" she yelled, stamping over. "You STOP!"

Prowl stared at Auri, shocked by the ferocity of her sudden tirade and the very fact that she'd come unhinged. He rose slowly, keeping a neutral expression. "Auri," he said gently, "I think there must have been some misunderstanding. I apologize if we have confused you, but Agent Sora is going to leave."

"NO, SHE ISN'T!" Auri slammed her little fist down on Prowl's desk.

Prowl felt his systems hitch a little in shock. She was not being rational. This wasn't how she behaved, ever. Something had to be wrong.

"You're lying and being mean and trying to confuse me!" Auri accused, glaring at him. "You stop it."

"It was unintentional." Prowl said slowly. "Who told you that Agent Sora was staying?" he asked patiently. She eyed him with suspicion. "Who?" he asked again gently, looking into her optics. His calmness quieted her.

She looked pensive as she thought about it. A minute passed. Then two. She started to look troubled. After three minutes, she looked quite troubled and tears filled her optics. "I don't know…" she whimpered.

"Did nobody tell you?" Prowl asked softly.

Auri sniffled and hid her face in her hands. "Nobody told me." She cried softly, "I think I just… wanted her to stay..."

"…so you decided that it was true?"

"Maybe…" she whimpered, "I… I don't understand me."

"I think I understand what happened," Prowl told her gently; then he explained it to her. She had wanted it to be true so adamantly that she'd convinced herself that it was true. Her processor even filed it as true. Thus, when Prowl had contradicted her, she had actually thought that he really was lying.

"Can that happen…?" Auri asked, rubbing her optics.

Prowl nodded. "Yes. I have encountered more than one bot who has been in utter denial like that. They get irrational when contradicted, as you did."

"'M sorry…" Auri said softly.

"It's alright." Prowl told her.

"Why would I do that?" Auri asked, sniffling.

Prowl paused, recalling what Ratchet had said several times before. "It was most likely a defense mechanism." He said. "Your system felt it had to protect a threatened truth, so you reacted instinctively… irrationally."

"Oh..." Auri said, digesting this. "I'm complicated." She said sadly.

"We are all complicated." Prowl told her gently.

Auri gave a soft little sigh at that. "I guess we are indeed." She said then looked down. "Prowl?" she sounded a little anxious now.

"Yes, Aurion?"

"Could… could you 'splain that to th-the twins? I got really mad at them yesterday for the same reason, I think, but we didn't figure it out like you did."

Prowl nodded. "I certainly could." He told her reassuringly. "Is there anything else you need?"

She sniffled. "I need a hug."

Prowl half-smiled and went around his desk to her. Gently, he put his arms around her and drew her close, holding her, resisting the urge to cuddle her. He felt her sigh, and she rested her head against him for a couple moments. Her little body was warm and cozy against him, and the implicit trust that she conveyed through her closeness was touching. He could hold her for a long time like this, he thought. No…

"Okay." She said, and Prowl ended the embrace. She smiled up at him. "Thank-you…"

He nodded.

"I will go confirm Agent Sora's departing flight now." She said, looking down.

"Good." Prowl gave her shoulder a gentle rub, "And do not be sad about it. We will invite her back."

"Really?" Auri perked up instantly.

Prowl repressed a smile. "Yes. She is… she is very much the sort of liaison we need. She is not judgmental, and she works well with us and respects us."

"And she's nice." Auri said.

Prowl paused as he thought about it from this simple perspective. "She is indeed."

"Niceness goes a long way." Auri said as she headed back to her workstation, and Prowl surreptitiously wrote her words down on one of his private data-pads, adding to a list of things that he'd learned from her and Bee.

OoOoOoOoO

Amy's second-to-last day at NEST came all too soon for her, and she said as much to Magnus when she arrived at his office for their last daily talk.

"You will be returning, though." He told her reassuringly.

"That's what I hear…" Amy cocked her head, "But I'll miss you guys."

"You will be too busy once you get your next assignment." He stated.

Amy gave him a half-exasperated look. "Do you guys not have feelings about being separated?" she asked. Then she found herself being scooped up from the floor in warm metal hands and lifted up, up, up and held very close to a pair of stern glowing optics. "Heights…" she gasped softly.

Magnus set her gently down on his desk, sat down, and leaned very close to her. "We _do_ have feelings about being separated," he said, "We are just separated so often that we work with the feelings so that they do not overwhelm us."

Amy sat down cross-legged. "As in…?" she prompted.

"We focus on the good times we had in the past, and we look forward to what we will do when we meet again, as well as what we will do while separated. We think, 'We will do such-n-such a thing and this fun thing, and when we meet again, we will get to talk about it.'"

"What about fears of not seeing someone again?" Amy asked softly, looking down.

Magnus got quiet and looked pensive. "We live with them." He said in a quiet tone. "As beings at war, we have no certainty of how long we will live." He fingered a data-pad that was lying on his desk. "Personally, I deal with it by trying to live each day to its fullest, and I know many of my comrades do the same."

Amy smiled at that. They talked away most of their hour, but towards the end, Amy faltered and stopped as a lump welled up in her throat.

The big mech tilted his head to the side. "Amy…?"

She looked down. "I'm gonna miss you." She said. "I'm really, really going to miss you."

Magnus paused, looking at her thoughtfully. He drew his fingers across his desk a little ways. "I… to be perfectly honest, I must say that I am glad."

Amy laughed ruefully, "That's not the standard answer…"

Magnus shook his head. "No, is it not. But it is true; I am glad that you will miss us bots, for it means you like us at least a little bit."

Amy smiled at his honesty as well as his misunderstanding. "I will indeed miss all the bots," she said, "But when I said I'd really, really miss you, I meant 'you singular,' not 'you plural.'"

"O…" Magnus's optics widened at that. Then a gentle smile touched his face. "I am honored." he said, his voice a little softer than Amy had heard it before. His optics met her eyes, "I was not going to admit it… but since you brought the subject up," he hesitated, "I… will miss you as well."

Amy felt her heart warm then. A massive metal being who had traveled all about the universe had just said that he would miss her, a simple little human running around on planet earth.

"Now who's the glad one?" Magnus asked, teasing her ever so slightly.

"I'm honored," Amy said, half-laughing him for teasing her.

"Now, stay happy." He ordered, pointing at her as if she was one of the younger bots.

She smiled, delighted that he was at ease enough with her to tease. It hadn't always been like that. He merely half-smiled, though.

"I will not be here tomorrow to say farewell." He said with a bit of regret in his voice, "I will be off-base on classified business."

Amy felt sad about that, but she nodded, "I understand." She said. Then she looked at him, "So…"

"When we say good-bye this afternoon, it will be good-bye for a couple months."

"'Couple months'?" Amy asked.

"Rough guess." Magnus said, but Amy suspected from the way his optics flicked down minutely that it was more than just a rough guess. She smiled.

"Let me know when you get it polished down a bit." She said, smiling.

"I will." He said, and it was a promise. He paused, glancing at a data-pad that was lying towards the side of his desk. "Bee is coming to pick you up in a few minutes."

Amy nodded.

"I must say farewell then." Magnus said slowly, "Farewell, Amy Sora. You have become a true friend and a fine example. May you have safe journeys and good times, and may you return to these walls and rejoin us in gladness."

Amy got up and hugged his arm. "You –and all the bots- have such ways with words." She said, choking up.

"Simple good-byes are fine as well, Amy Sora." He said, gently touching her back and shoulders.

"Aw…" she said with a sniffle. "Good-bye."

"Good-bye for now." Magnus corrected gently.

Amy couldn't help but smile at that. "Good-bye for now." She said.

OoOoOoOoO

"Man…" Sunny said, sighing luxuriously, "You're gonna be leaving, and we can be normal high-class cars again. What a relief."

Amy chuckled up at him. She knew he didn't wholly mean it. "Yes, but not for a couple hours." She told him.

Sides came around the corner then and pulled up, not quite stopping before he transformed.

"Look who's on time!"

"Hey, you know how traffic is." Sides said, bantering a bit. "Good morning, Miss Amy."

"Good morning," she said smiling up at him.

He glanced at his twin then spoke to Amy. "We got you something."

"Guys, you know I don't like worms or bugs." She said, putting her hands up, making the twins laugh.

"Oh, well," Sides said, snapping a cell phone out of subspace. "You're in luck."

"Aren't we supposed to wrap gifts, Sideswipe?" Sunny asked, looking a little annoyed.

"Yeah, right, like their wrapping paper is compatible with our fingertips."

Amy chuckled. "It's fine."

"See?" Sides said to his twin. Then they both crouched down.

"A special phone." Sunny said as Sides held it out to Amy. It looked like a well-used phone from 2008.

"What makes it special?" Amy asked, carefully taking it and looking at it.

"'Cuz it came from us…" Sides said, and Sunny smacked him upside the head.

"Once you leave Base, you won't be able to contact any of us bots." Sunny said, "Your cell phone isn't secure outside of here, and Cons could hack it if you tried to talk with us, and… bad stuff could happen. This cell phone, however, was specially designed by our human techs. It uses Cybertronian technology with earth materials so the Cons can't sense it or hack it. On the outside, it looks like a dumpy dino phone; on the inside, though, it's a work of techie art."

Amy looked up at the twins in awe. "Am I allowed to have… this kind of…?"

The twins both nodded. "Magnus did the talking and got a hold of it for us for you once we told him that we wanted you to be able to stay in touch with us." Sides said.

Amy looked down at the phone. "Wow…" she said softly then looked up at the twins again. "Thank-you, mechs. Thank-you so much!" she couldn't put into words how much it meant to her, but they seemed to understand.

They grinned, delighted.

"I guessed we'd better load up." Sides said after a pause.

Amy nodded. She went back inside and opened the upstairs window. "First one," she said, handing out one suitcase. Sides took it and put in Sunny's trunk. "Second." She handed out the other one. "Third, be careful with that one; it's got the laptops in it."

She closed the window and went back outside, carrying her purse and carryon.

"Why," said Sides, looking at the net pocket on the carryon, "Do you have a fuzzy toy horse?"

Amy eyed him. "Because I like horses." She said then chuckled when they looked nonplussed. "You twins. Firestar made plushies back on Cybertron, but she couldn't give me anything of Cybertronian make for security reasons, so she got this for me here, and I like it."

"Okay." Sunny said, his optics twinkling. "That makes sense now. Transform, bro." he told Sides. Sides transformed, and once Amy was in Sides, they drove off to Ironhide and Chromia's quarters.

Sunny transformed first and knocked on the door as Sides let Amy out and transformed himself.

"Come in," Chromia called, sounding just a little aggravated.

The twins exchanged glances, and Sunny picked Amy up, setting her on his shoulder.

"Amy and we are here." Sides said, venturing in first. Amy peered around him and saw Chromia sitting on the floor by the couch. Flareup was sitting at the table with a doubtful look on her face.

"Oh, that's nice." Chromia said, her expression rather irked. "Aren't you early?"

"No, we're actually a little late." Sides said honestly, "Or so we thought." He added to be safe.

"We just came for Auri." Amy said in an appeasing tone,

"Auri." Chromia said,

"No." Auri's voice came from beneath the couch.

"Uh," Amy said, "Why is… is… Why is Auri under the couch?"

"Because she is being a bratty little stinker about you leaving." Chromia said, "She seems to think that balking and whining will delay you enough that you'll have to stay longer. Which isn't true," she said pointedly, looking back at the couch, "It will get her smacked for being at brat and she won't get to tell you good-bye at the airport."

"Nuh-uh!" Auri argued.

Sunny set Amy on the table. "This may be a while." He said, sitting down on a stool, "In the mean time, observe what Cybertronian parents have to go through and how they deal with it."

Chromia rolled her optics at him. "Auri," she said, "I have told you once to come out from under this couch. Now, I will tell you one more time, and if you won't come out, I will drag you out, and I will spank you. Is that clear?"

"Note how she explains things simply and asks to make sure Auri knows what the deal is." Sunny commented.

Auri whined and grumbled something undistinguishable.

"What?" Chromia said, but that only got her more whining. "Aurion, this is the first day I've ever heard you whine and it will be the last day. You stop whining, and you get your little fanny out from under this couch."

"Note her usage of the word 'fanny.'" Sunny said, "Any reference to the behind is a clear indicator of how serious she is getting."

"Sunstreaker." Chromia said, turning to level an un-amused look at him. "End the running commentary or it will be your behind that we're dealing with. Aurion,"

"I won't whine anymore." Auri muttered.

"Good. That's very good. Now, are you going to obey me, or are you going to accept the unpleasant consequences of being disobedient?"

Auri didn't say anything. Chromia ground her teeth.

The door opened then and Prowl walked in, followed by Ironhide. Both mechs stopped short.

"What's going on?" Ironhide asked as Prowl glanced around at the visible occupants of the room.

"Auri is half a minute away from getting dragged out from under the couch and soundly smacked." Chromia said. Prowl's wings flicked. Ironhide opened his mouth to reply, but he stopped as Prowl calmly moved forwards.

Prowl went over to the couch and got down on his hands and knees and then sat with his hands resting lightly on his knees. "Aurion, this display of such infantilism is entirely unprofessional and wholly unacceptable; if you do not terminate it immediately, I will disallow you from working in the office for a set period of time."

There was a moment of silence then a quiet scuffle.

"You're mean." Auri said with a pout as she climbed out from under the couch. She sat up between Chromia and Prowl and gave everybody a reproachful look.

"Thank-you, Prowl." Chromia said, rising and pulling Auri up at the same time. She landed a smack on Auri's behind, making her yelp.

"Ouch!"

"That was for all the hassle and the whining and…" Chromia paused, starting to reconsider only giving her child only _one_ swat.

"I'm sorry I made all that trouble for you," Auri said, hugging Chromia coaxingly. "I won't again."

"Alright," Chromia said, relenting.

"I love you…" Auri coaxed,

Chromia eyed her. "I love you, too. You scuffed your shoulder. Go polish it. -Quickly, so Amy won't be late." she handed Auri a cloth, nudging her towards the other room, and the femme-ling went obediently.

"So, you should be flattered," Chromia said drily to Amy, "Since she caused that much of a scene."

Amy smiled at that. "I… guess I am." She said, thinking about it.

Auri came back a couple minutes later, looking well-behaved once again. "Okay, I'm ready." She said, and all trace of brattiness was gone from her tone.

Amy looked over at Ironhide. "Bye, Ironhide," she said, "It was nice meeting you and your family and getting to know you guys."

He nodded his head once. "Farewell, Miss Amy." He said, "We look forward to your return."

"Bye, Chromia," Amy said, "I-"

"Bye, girl." Chromia said, cutting her off. Amy smiled sheepishly; she should have known Chromia wouldn't want a long good-bye.

"Flareup," Amy said, and Flareup smiled at her, "Good bye…" she wasn't sure what to say.

"Good bye, Amy Sora." Flareup said, "You're pretty cool." The words weren't eloquent, but they meant much to Amy.

Auri took Amy to the airfield then, the twins in tow and Prowl ahead. Once they got to the airfield, the twins took the luggage to the handlers, and Prowl and Auri transformed and stayed with Amy.

"I learned a whole lot," Auri said softly to Amy, "About us, and you, and me. I'm glad you came."

"Aw, Auri, thank-you." Amy said, touched by the femme-ling's sincerity, "I'm glad I came as well. Thank-you for being awesome."

Auri giggled. "What's your definition of awesome, lady?" she half-teased, and the wording reminded Amy of Chromia.

"You." Amy said smile.

Auri knelt down and carefully hugged her. "Come back, okay?"

"Okay." Amy said, smiling up at the femme-ling and her serious blue optics.

The plane was taxiing over and the twins were racing past it towards them.

"Prowl," Amy said, and he turned his attention to her, "Thank-you for everything. It was an honor being here and getting to know the Autobots."

"You are welcome." Prowl said, "It was- refreshing having you here, and I am glad that you were able to accomplish your work."

Amy smiled at that. "Good bye, Prowl. I will miss you."

"Good bye, Agent Sora. I anticipate your return."

The twins teased her then, and then they hugged her and ran off.

"That's the twins for you." Auri said. She walked with Amy up to the plane and then gave her a final hug before stepping back. Amy climbed the steps and waved from the doorway and then went in and took her seat.

Auri went back and stood by Prowl to watch the plane leave. The steps were taken away, and it slowly taxied around to face the runway. It paused, and then it started forward, accelerating.

Then the twins came blasting out from behind the buildings, back in Corvette mode. They revved their engines and sped for the plane.

"They're crazy!" Auri laughed. Prowl watched them.

They honked as they passed the plane, and Auri knew Amy was probably waving at them. Then they veered off and pulled to the side of the runway before the pilot decided to report them. The plane passed them and then took to the skies.

"That adventure is over now." Auri said, looking a little sad.

"We will have another one soon enough, I am sure." Prowl said, lightly touching her shoulder to comfort her. In all honesty, he didn't care much for adventures, but she did.

She turned to leave and head back to the city, but Prowl paused and looked at the skies, wondering just what the next adventure would be.

* * *

Yes! Time for a new adventure! Next chapter will be **[**here now, you don't want spoilers, **do you**?! Let's just say it will blow your minds away… *insert evil chuckle***]**


	88. A New Development

Hi…! So, change of plans…

One of my reviewers commented on how last chapter (Chapter 87) would have been a good ending if I was writing a sequel, and I liked that idea. I mean, eighty-seven chapters _is_ a **lot** of chapters. The text was getting a little lengthy. So, instead of posting the next chapters here, I'm going to put them in a new story.

So…THANK-YOU! Many, many, MANY thanks to all you lovely reviewers for your support and feedback and suggestions! I love writing this story, but you all make it so much more enjoyable. I hope everybody will love the next part of the story even more...!

And now… a tantalizing tidbit of the next part of the story… (since a chapter can't have only an author's note).

* * *

**A New Development**

Soundwave stood impassively on the beach, his optics behind his visor staring out over the sea. His fist clenched slightly.

Two years.

Two years, the little femme had been on earth, so close, yet so out of reach. How many times had he nearly gotten her? Twice. Once when she had wrecked on the mountain, and once when she'd run away to that mountain.

His fist clenched a little more as he remembered the last time. Having confused her mentally, he'd nearly gotten her to come with him. She'd slipped her little hand into his, and she would have gone with him willingly and happily, but Elita had showed up, stopping her, stopping him. The femme commander didn't know anything except the worst of Cons. She didn't know him. He would have been a good father. He would have been as good as father as Ironhide, if not better. He would have been better, no doubt.

Ironhide had a quick temper. He was rash. He blasted into things and destroyed at a whim. His fists were the most ready of all the Autobots' fists, his tongue rough and quick to lash.

Soundwave felt a protective anger well up in his spark at the thought of Ironhide with the little femme. Little and delicate as she was… Ironhide could crush her spirit without even trying and break her body with two blows. Soundwave hated Ironhide.

Soundwave took the emotion and directed it away. Emotions tampered with his sense. He knew he couldn't think as clearly when he let emotion dictate too much. Being troubled about Ironhide wouldn't get him anywhere. He just needed to get the little femme away from Ironhide. It had been on his to-do list for two years now, and he'd still not accomplished it. He'd come so close…

He had to go back to base soon. And he would. But some day he would go back to base with the little femme.

This year would be her third year on earth. The past two years had offered him two chances at claiming her; perhaps the third year would as well.

He would not fail this time, he told himself.

He would succeed.

* * *

Okay, head over to the new story for the rest the story… It's called _My Family, My Home_.


End file.
